


2019 August Fic-A-Day Challenge

by LadyWinterlight



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Shared Universe, Twisting The Hellmouth Fic-a-Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-09-30 18:43:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 21,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20451803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyWinterlight/pseuds/LadyWinterlight
Summary: In a moment of insanity, I joined the Fic-A-Day Challenge over on Twisting The Hellmouth. Since the ficlets were all pretty well received, I thought I'd post them here, too.The fics are all set in a shared-universe Buffy The Vampire Slayer / Marvel Cinematic Universe. TTH is primarily Buffy crossovers, so that's the theme of the challenge too. I am mostly going to be posting the ficlets in the order they were written and posted, rather than trying to sort out chronology.I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer or anything to do with the MCU.





	1. Intro and Rules

So before you get started reading, this is the information for the challenge I entered:

The Rules:  
1\. Write one fic per day during August. Stories must be complete and stand alone and they should be BtVS/Angel Crossovers of any rating with any fandom, minimum 300 words, maximum 3000 words.  
2\. Entries must be posted in the TwistedShorts Community to be counted.  
3\. Post more than one a day if you want, but only one fic per 24 hours counts toward the challenge. Backdating stories is strictly forbidden (and underhanded).  
4\. There's no 'miss a day and you're out'. If you can't post one day that doesn't mean you're out. Keep posting when you get a chance.  
5\. Regular posting rules apply: proper header, fic behind cut, adult rated fic comm-locked, disclaimer, etc.  
6\. Have fun :)

I ended up with a mini-series of related BTVS/MCU ficlets. I skip around the timeline a bit, but I will indicate in the short if where it falls if it's not roughly in order with the rest. There are several of these out of order ficlets, so please keep an eye on the notes.

They are all gen, and the series is not really focused on any single character. I bounced around a lot. That said, I hope you still enjoy them.

**The Statute of Spoilers is well and truly over for anything in the BTVS series. This collection will contain spoilers for Avengers: Endgame and any film in the franchise that came before it. It also crosses over with Agents of SHIELD a bit, but doesn't spoil anything after S3. I have mostly disregarded what AoS was doing during Infinity War/Endgame.**


	2. August 1 - Chance Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy bumps into Clint while the latter is on his vigilante-vendetta trip around the world in Endgame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for Endgame.

* * *

Buffy ran down the street in Osaka, two of the minis behind her, towards the sound of screaming. It was late at night, it was starting to rain, and while the populace of Earth had decreased by half five years ago - it hadn’t affected the undead in the slightest.

Which meant that the much smaller number of Slayers that were left had their work cut out for them.

Except that it turned out to be a fight mostly between humans. There were a few vampires lurking in the shadows as a hooded and masked figure with a sword swept through the club, taking out yakuza right and left. If the figure was unenhanced human, though, he was still trained to the point of being over the minis’ heads. She waved them towards the actual vamps and demons, and followed the hooded figure herself.

Several men rushed the figure with swords, and Buffy decided to even the odds a bit. Not that any of these people appeared to be on the right side of things, but at least solo dude wasn’t allied with demons as far as she could tell.

Of course, when dealing with humans Buffy always fought to wound rather than kill. And unfortunately for her sense of fun, these guys either didn’t speak English or didn’t have any appreciation for a good quip. She left several unconscious by the time the hooded figure finished his fight. He whirled around to swing at her next, and Buffy blocked the sword even as he froze in place.

“You’re not one of these thugs,” a low voice spoke. 

“Nope,” Buffy said, popping the ‘p’ sound. “But eight against one was never good odds, even if you’re… special.”

“I had it handled,” the man’s voice was almost petulant, and Buffy grinned. 

“Sure, but in a town like this I’ve gotta get my kiks somewhere.” It was a very old habit, playing up the valley girl facade to confuse people. And for some reason, this guy seemed to be buying it more than she’d expected him to.

He wiped his sword and sheathed it, stepping back from her non-threateningly. “I appreciate the backup, darlin’, but you don’t want any part of my mission.”

Or maybe he wasn’t buying into her act, but had decided to play along anyway. That hint of a drawl was heart-melting. “Mission, hmm?” she asked, looking around. “Well, then, just be careful. My team doesn’t normally mess with the mundane criminal element, but these guys were literally making deals with demons.”

His head tilted; the hood gave that much away. But then he nodded abruptly. “Thanks for the warning.” He spun on his heel and left; Buffy let him, watching thoughtfully.

A week later in Tokyo she spotted him again. This time, she only watched from an alleyway as he fought with and killed another organized-crime-type. Only she wasn’t the only one watching, and once the fight was done he was confronted by none other than Natasha Romanov herself. Before they could leave, she stepped out of the alleyway.

“Drawn to another fight, Miss Demon Hunter?” Barton asked when he recognized her through the pouring rain and under the hood of her raincoat.

“More or less,” she shrugged. “But if you’re going back to Avenging, I figured I should give you this,” she added, reaching out with a business card in her hand.

“What’s this?” Romanov asked, taking the card when Barton made no move to do so.

“I figure we’re both in the business of world save-age, and if you think you might need help with the next Apocalypse you might wanna give us a call,” Buffy said. She watched both Avengers’ eyes widen, but she slipped away into the shadows before they could ask more questions.

Either they’d be in touch, or not. But if they decided to trust her, Buffy believed they could come to terms on a rather interesting alliance.

Perhaps working with recognized superheroes would help keep the Slayers from being targeted as often, too.


	3. August 2 - Confusion & Suspicion

Natasha frowned at the computer in front of her.

She didn’t have a lot of time while they pieced together what they knew of the Infinity Stones, but she’d thrown a few search terms into their database - which covered everything Stark had once gained access to as well as all the files they’d retrieved from the SHIELD data-dump. Her search had come up with nothing. Nada. Zero results.

SHIELD apparently knew nothing about this “ICWS” - not even what it stood for. The name Buffy Summers brought up a few references from news articles in the 90s, enrollment records from the University of California at Sunnydale, and very little else.

She spent a moment considering the idea that they’d been had. But Clint had mentioned Buffy fighting at his back - once, briefly, but it had happened - and that he’d been impressed. Which meant the other woman likely was impressive.

Buffy also didn’t look like a woman in her 40s. But given the records, she had to be at least a few years older than Natasha herself.

“Damn it,” she muttered to herself.

“Language,” Steve chided teasingly as he wandered into the room. He laughed as Natasha flipped him off instead. “What’s bothering you? Trouble locating one of the stones?”

“No. Well, that too, but no.” Natasha waved off Steve’s concern. “Just running a check on something Clint told me about. Nothing useful, but nothing relevant to our mission right now.”

Steve nodded. “Something to follow up on after?”

“Yeah. I’m sure I will,” Natasha responded absently. And she meant to. She really did.

But then their so-called ‘Time Heist’ happened and, of course, Natasha never got back to her search.

A month after the funerals for Natasha and Tony, Clint received an email with a set of searches and results attached.

> _ Clint, _
> 
> _ I found the attached on the backup server for the Avengers. It looks like the last individual project Natasha was working on. I don’t know if it’s important, but I thought someone should know. _
> 
> _ Be well, _
> 
> _ Pepper _

When Clint opened the first of the attachments, a scan of Buffy’s card appeared on the screen, along with an old photo. Clint stared at it for several long moments, then let out a slow breath. He saved the files, but then resolutely closed them.

He might be glad to have the information later, but… today he couldn’t deal with it. 

Not today.


	4. August 3 - Glimpse in the Chaos

Buffy’s eyes went wide at her first glimpse through Willow’s portal. There were portals opening everywhere, and while Willow’s didn’t have the whirling gold border she figured it was likely to be missed among all the others.

People from all over the world poured through the various portals, amassing an army to face the alien army come to call.

_ Remember, _ Willow told Buffy and Faith telepathically,  _ I can’t actually be there without getting attention from the Sorcerer Supreme, so your only real magic backup will be from people who are already there. If you change your mind about keeping the presence of Slayers and Witches quiet, just call. _ Her mental voice sounded put out, but Buffy knew she really did understand the need to keep their presence quiet.

_ Got it, Wills. Keep Dawn safe for me, please. There’s no telling what someone after these crazy power stones might do with The Key. _ Guarding Dawn was Buffy’s primary reason for keeping Willow at home. Someone was already after ancient power; they didn’t need Dawn at risk too.

The Slayers didn’t used to involve themselves in affairs outside of the supernatural. But after what Thanos had done - something made relatively common knowledge by the Avengers in the 5 years after the sudden dusting of millions, including nearly half the Minis, Faith and Xander, a lot of the old rules had been thrown out the window. Both because of their need to grieve, and afterwards.

To heck with “not our business.” Anything that threatened the world in general became their business. They still left mundane criminals to the police whenever possible, but this… 

This was absolutely not the work of a mundane criminal. This was an invasion. This was potentially another Apocalypse.

Buffy  _ still _ hated trying to explain that yes, Apocalypse came in plural.

The battle itself was insane. Aliens, superheroes, human-looking aliens, and regular humans all fought side by side against the invading force. The Slayers were out of the loop as far as any special tactics were concerned, but they didn’t need tactical input to fight creepy alien creatures and watch each others’ backs.

“Look out!” Buffy yelled to a badass-looking African woman with a spear as she ran closer in attempt to help. The woman had an alien thing barreling towards her from the side. The woman ducked, and Buffy swung the scythe slicing through the thing’s spine. It howled out a dreadful noise, until the woman stabbed her spear into its open mouth and punctured through to the brain, killing it.

“Thank you,” the woman said to her.

“No problem,” Buffy responded with a hint of a smile.

As she fought, Buffy did her best to keep track of her fellow Slayers. Faith was a whirlwind of power, and easily the strongest sense Buffy had of the others. It was such a relief to have her sister-Slayer back, Buffy really didn’t even have words to explain how much. They kept crossing paths as they fought; the Chosen Two still fought best together despite the long separation - at least from Buffy’s point of view. For Faith, everything had changed in two minutes.

She also kept catching glimpses of Earth’s costumed heroes in the melee. They seemed to be everywhere, but that wasn’t terribly surprising given that some of them flew, some of them had super speed better than a Slayer’s, and some put even Buffy’s gymnastic talents to shame.

Once or twice, Buffy found herself whirling towards a presence behind her, only to cross blades with one of the human-looking aliens. They definitely felt  _ different _ to her Slayer senses, but it only took a few heartbeats to determine they were on the same side. They’d usually nod to her and turn away to face a different enemy, so Buffy did the same.

Once this battle was over, Buffy definitely needed Willow to research these not-quite-human folk. They were strong, fast, and at least outwardly respectful of her strength. That might be an alliance of sorts to contemplate. 

But that was a thought for later.


	5. August 4 - The Slayer meets the Chooser of the Slain

Figuring out who the “near-human aliens” were turned out to be a lot simpler than Buffy expected.

A little research combined with a little magic traced the group to a village, renamed New Asgard shortly after the Snap. “It used to be called Tønsberg,” Willow explained excitedly. “There was some sort of major discovery there by Nazi scientists during World War II, but it was all pretty hush-hush stuff. They have a lot of local legends about mythic warriors and frost giants there, too, so it’s a pretty cool place from a mystical history point of view.”

“Cool. So can we go there?” Buffy asked, skirting around the history lesson.

“I can get you there, sure,” Willow shrugged. “Dunno what you’re gonna find, though.”

“Well, if that’s where these alien-people live,” Buffy began thoughtfully, “they do kinda have more in common with us - I mean Slayers - than with regular humans. It could be a common ground for friendship.”

Willow studied her carefully. “You really are alliance-building after everything, aren’t you? Even though we got everybody back…”

“Listen, Wills. The Snap happened, and we weren’t even there. We weren’t involved at all until the battle with Thanos the second time,” Buffy explained. “It might not have been vampires and demons, but it was world-ending all the same. I can’t sit back and just let us be out of the loop if something like that comes up again.”

“Buffy, Asgard is the realm of the Norse gods. They might not actually be gods, but… well, they might.”

“I’ll be careful. Besides, I just want to talk.”

So Buffy went alone. Well, mostly alone. Willow was still in her head more often than not, and she could either teleport Buffy out or send other Slayers in as backup as needed. Probably. But Buffy kept the scythe hidden and otherwise looked like a normal woman as she walked down the hill towards the village.

“You’re not from around here. Are you lost?”

Buffy didn’t recognize the accent or the voice at all, but the speaker didn’t sound particularly Norweigan to her. She looked to the side of the road and spotted the woman who owned the voice. A quick once-over showed a dark-skinned woman with her hair braided back until it tied in a high tail; her eyes were sharp and intelligent, and Buffy could sense a deep well of power within her.

“Not lost, no, but I’ve never been here before,” Buffy replied politely. She reached out her hand and was somehow unsurprised when the other woman grasped her forearm in a warrior’s greeting.

“There’s something different about you,” the woman mused. “Forgive me. I am Brunnhilde of Asgard. Welcome to New Asgard.”

“Thank you. I’m Buffy Summers of… of the ICWS, I suppose.”

“What is the ICWS?”

Buffy paused, thinking carefully over how to answer. “It’s an international organization dedicated to girls and women with a special set of skills,” she answered finally. “People like the Avengers would probably call us ‘enhanced’ but it’s not what they would most likely think.”

“I see,” Brunnhilde responded, accepting the sketchy description for the moment. “Please, come into town. If you have come seeking us, perhaps you have reason.”

They fell into step together, Buffy quickening her pace only slightly to keep up with the taller woman. They were quiet for a moment before Buffy asked, “If this is New Asgard, may I ask where the original Asgard was? I don’t think I’ve heard of a city or country by that name.”

“We are not originally of your world,” Brunnhilde said forthrightly. “Asgard is a realm on another branch of the World Tree. It was destroyed by Surtr, a demon of flame and molten rock. None could stand against its destruction.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Buffy offered in a low voice. “I know it’s not the same, but my home town of Sunnydale was destroyed in a mystical sinkhole by an ancient force of evil.” She waited for some hint of skepticism, the sort of disbelief she typically met with whenever she mentioned the supernatural. But all Brunnhilde did was nod.

“Thank you for your kind thought,” Brunnhilde said. “It is in the past and we have done what we can to put it behind us.” She led Buffy into a small building that may have originally been the town hall, of sorts. Now it seemed to be closer to a receiving hall or maybe a very small throne room. “Please have a seat,” she offered, heading towards a table at one side of the room.

Buffy studied Brunnhilde carefully. “You came to meet me deliberately, didn’t you? You’re not just someone working nearby when I walked up to town.”

Her questions were answered with a smile. “And when last I was on Midgard, The  _ Skjaldmær _ was only ever a single woman at a time. But your words would suggest that has changed.”

_ “Skjaldmær,” _ Buffy said carefully. “I’m not familiar with the term, but I’m definitely not the ancient languages expert. That would be my sister and my mentor.”

“The modern translation is what the Norse called a shield-maiden, but when used as a title it refers to the mystical protector of humankind.”

“The Slayer,” Buffy translated with a sigh. “That’s what we’re called, now.”

A chuckle escaped and Brunnhilde’s expression lightened with amusement. “And my title of Valkyrie translates to ‘chooser of the slain,’ as in choosing who may deserve to be sent to Valhalla.”

Buffy grinned. “Well, if the names and titles mean anything… then I think perhaps we’re going to get along quite well.”

“You know, I think we just might. Come, sit, and tell me why you came.”


	6. August 5 - Respect for the Fallen

Buffy and Faith stood on the outskirts of the group, quietly observing Tony Stark’s memorial service. From what they’d overheard, a much more private ceremony had been held for close friends and family, but for the man - superhero, really - who died saving the world… they couldn’t not have something bigger and more public.

There were several other Slayers scattered around the crowds. They had all come to pay their respects to Stark, but Buffy had coordinated their presence as a secondary security measure. Sure, there were military, superheroes and plenty of police and service officers in the crowd… but for a lot of them, this goodbye was personal. They deserved the chance to grieve properly, and the Slayers were willing to step up in case of an unexpected attack. Just in case.

“At least you don’t have to get up there and talk, hey B?” Faith murmured, her tone caught somewhere between comforting and teasing. She knew Buffy would be carefully avoiding the idea of her own funeral, and all the past memorials for fallen Slayers would also be on her mind.

Buffy responded with a tight smile and a brief nod. “Could be worse, I know,” she murmured back after a moment.

Fortunately for everyone, it seemed no one wanted to take advantage of the gathering to attack. Maybe what remained of the Avengers’ enemies and rivals had decided to be grateful for Tony saving their lives along with the rest of the world. It wasn’t Apocalypse season, either; the demon underworld was laying low due to the resurgence of Slayer numbers. Even with the number of Slayers present here, they had more than enough teams patrolling around the world.

When the service ended, the Stark family and the remaining Avengers gave a single statement for the horde of press at the event and then all disappeared into several limos obviously hired for the occasion. Faith glanced around, watching the crowds disperse. “Come on, B,” she said lowly, linking her arm through her sister-slayer’s. “Time to blow this popsicle stand before we get noticed.”

“Yeah, we should go,” Buffy agreed, though her eyes were still focused on the memorial stone with its plaque.

“It’s done, Buffy,” Dawn soothed, coming up alongside her sister. “I promise, no one will be able to deny Stark his rest.”

Buffy nodded slowly. “I know. I trust you.” Buffy took a slow breath in. “Let’s go home.”


	7. August 6 - Wakandan Slayers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buffy and Dawn visit Wakanda after everyone returned in Endgame has had time to settle.
> 
> Working in the background made this one of my longer shorts for the challenge. :)

“I beg your pardon?” Giles looked at Buffy, shock clearly written on his face. “I must have heard you wrong. You’re going where?”

Buffy ignored his expression and continued to pack. “To Wakanda. Ayanda set it up with Okoye.” Giles blinked at her. “Sorry, Giles, I know you missed a lot of time. A lot happened in the last five years. Short version on this one: with governments the world over missing most or all of their major players, a lot of different people and groups stepped up. Ayanda is originally  _ from _ Wakanda. We made a deal with the people in charge, absent their King.”

“But Wakanda  _ threw out _ the Council nearly two hundred years ago,” Giles protested.

“Of course they did,” Buffy agreed. “A Council of old, white men from tweedland wanted to take their girls away, teach them to be tools and weapons, to ignore their culture, their spirituality and their individuality, and send them out to die if they should happen to be Chosen. Tell me seriously, why would anyone aware of the spiritual, the mystic, and their own history  _ not _ object to their people being treated that way?”

Giles took off his glasses, reaching for a handkerchief to clean them. “Well, I suppose when you put it like that…”

“It startled me, too, but the Wakandans as a people are aware of the supernatural. They have a history of supporting and caring for any Slayers chosen among their people,” Buffy offered. “Their tribes, their people, and their government support them so they can do the job they were called to do. Personally, I can get behind that mentality.”

“So if you’ve already affirmed these arrangements and Wakandan support of the Slayers, what necessitates this trip?”

“Like you, their King has been returned. I want to request his support and agreement, to affirm the arrangements made in his name while he was gone,” Buffy explained.

“I see. Who are you taking with you?”

“Ayanda, obviously. Dawn, since she’s done most of the historical research since we were allowed access to Wakanda. And I think Tian, to prove that we’re making use of and supporting interest in the girls’ multi-cultural backgrounds.”

Giles smiled fondly. “You always were clever, dear girl. I’m proud to see you’ve grown so much.”

“You started the process,” Buffy replied with a serious expression belying her flippant tone. “And I had to step up a lot, in absence of more responsible adult-type people.”

“Good luck, then. And call us if you need anything.”

“You’ve got it. I’ll have my cell, and in an emergency Willow can reach us pretty easily.”

“Do try not to mangle the language too horribly while meeting with a King, hmm?” Giles added, teasing.

“As if!”

* * *

It took special permission to fly into Wakanda. Fortunately, they could travel by one of Willow’s portals to the Slayer safe-house in Nairobi, and from there Okoye sent a jet to pick them up and fly them into Birnin Zana. It was a pretty short trip, and made for a much less cranky Buffy.

Buffy walked down the jet’s ramp, flanked by the two younger slayers, with Dawn bringing up the rear. Okoye saluted the trio of Slayers, and they all returned the gesture. Then Buffy smiled and took an additional step forward. “It’s good to see you, Okoye.

“And you, Buffy.” The Dora Milaje’s voice was warm, though her expression remained carefully neutral. “Please, come with me. I do not expect you will be waiting long.”

They weren’t waiting long at all.

The group kept the same formation as they walked into the hall where King T’Challa waited. Buffy sized him up visually as they approached, and assumed he would be doing the same to her. He was really quite gorgeous, with those sharp cheekbones and vibrantly dark eyes. He also moved like someone well used to keeping his strength leashed, a feeling Buffy could relate to 100%.

T’Challa’s face remained neutral as they stopped a few yards away. Buffy crossed her right arm over her left in the traditional Wakandan salute and bowed her head to the King. “Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” Buffy greeted him politely. Ayanda and Tian repeated the gesture, and Dawn followed suit.

Buffy was pleased to note the brief flash of surprise and a hint of a smile before his expression smoothed and he nodded to them. “Welcome to Wakanda,” he replied. “Would you please share your names with me?”

“Of course. I’m Buffy Summers, sometimes called the Slayer-General. These are my sister-Slayers. Ayanda is originally of the River Tribe, and Tian is from Vietnam. With us is our historian and linguist, Dawn Summers.”

T’Challa raised an eyebrow. “You are both named Summers. I presume you are related.”

“We’re sisters, Majesty,” Dawn spoke up. “But given what the Slayers do and what they are, we count that bond as strong as any blood tie. We are all family.”

“I see. This is, of course, a drastic change from past encounters with the Slayer and your… Council.”

Buffy suppressed the urge to snort and roll her eyes. “The old Watchers’ Council was disbanded over a decade ago, King T’Challa. When I was the primary active Slayer, I had what you could call a major difference of opinion with the Council.”

Ayanda gave a bright smile. “She essentially fired them, declining their assistance in following her Calling. We have all heard the tale, and if our ancestors could have seen it I believe they would have been greatly pleased, My King.”

“And you have not been… discouraged… from keeping our traditions and honoring our ancestors?”

“No, not at all,” Ayanda responded, bouncing on her toes for a moment before a look from Buffy reminded her to keep calm. “Apologies, Majesty-”

But T’Challa shook his head, a small smile absolving her of the need to apologize. “We of Wakanda are quite familiar with the energy of a Slayer. You need not apologize for being what you are.”

“Thank you,” Ayanda replied, relieved. “To answer your question, I have been allowed and encouraged to study Wakanda’s history and learn from my elders, while also living and training with the other Slayers from around the world. Though many of us lack the patience to be scholars, we have access to language tutors, folklore, mythology, history, and many other areas of study.”

“Since the Watchers’ Council was replaced with the International Council of Watchers and Slayers, we run things very differently than we used to,” Buffy explained. “When we changed the magics and activated all the potential Slayers around the world in order to fight an immensely old and powerful force of evil, it had some unforeseen consequences. We found ourselves responsible for girls as young as four who suddenly had all the power of an active Slayer. The families of those girls needed our help, and our ability to train their daughters’ gifts. But we also needed the parents to still be able to raise those girls.”

Buffy and the others were invited to join King T’Challa for tea while also giving him a brief overview of activating the potentials, locating and needing to train all the new slayers, and the fact that girls now manifested their powers much earlier - some as soon as they could walk and talk, others as they began to grasp the concepts of good and evil. They mostly taught the girls to control their strength, and ways to calm and control the usual childish fits of temper that could cause much more damage from a child with supernatural strength.

Families who were able often relocated to homes in proximity to a Slayer House - a combination safe house and training center staffed with actively patrolling Slayers, Watchers, Witches, and sometimes volunteers from the girls’ families just to keep things running smoothly.

“And what do you need from me?” King T’Challa asked when Dawn finished detailing their regular mode of operation.

“Honestly? Very little. Wakanda has many warriors who understand the supernatural and how to fight it, which does help the young Slayers to adjust. But it also means you don’t need us nearly as much as other places,” Buffy replied honestly. 

“But when the world went to pieces five years ago, we stepped up with everybody else who could - providing infrastructure and safety as much as possible. Okoye and several of your people identified us for who and what we are, and they offered us an alliance of sorts - assistance for assistance, access to some of our own history that had been lost or kept from us by greedy old men who just wanted weapons, and the ability for girls like Ayanda to both remain one of your people and to train with other Slayers. We would like for that relationship to continue; I think it’s healthy for the girls to know their homes, their own faiths or religions, and to go home to their parents on a daily basis. But need?” Buffy shrugged.

“Queen Bee is right,” Tian agreed. “I’m legally an adult now, if only just, but it’s still nice to be able to call my mother whenever I want to. We go where we’re needed, and we protect people from the demons and the darkness. But we still have a place and a people to call home.”

“Queen?” T’Challa asked, glancing from Tian to Buffy to Ayanda.

Buffy blushed. “Some of the girls started calling me that years ago. I’m not royalty or anything.”

“No, you’re just the first Slayer in recorded history to be alive for so many years,” Dawn refuted. “You’re role-model to the younger Slayers, Buff, and you know it. You’re mother, commander, counselor and confidante. Honestly, you might as well be the Queen of the Slayers.”

“You do  _ not _ get to tell Thor and Brunnhilde that. I really don’t need the Asgardians calling me Queen, too,” Buffy scolded, half-teasing and half-serious.

“They are right, though,” T’Challa told Buffy in a voice laden with empathy. “Whether or not you claim the title, you are the leader of the Slayers, their associates and their guardians. Your people have spoken, Buffy, and from everything I have heard… I believe they have chosen well.”

Buffy sat silently for a moment, just absorbing everyone’s words. Then she sighed. “I do my best for you all, if only because I never want you to feel as alone as I once did. You know that.” 

“We do, Buffy,” Ayanda answered softly. She was still young enough to get away with tucking herself against Buffy’s side, and she smiled when the older Slayer wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You care about us. And that’s why we all follow you; Faith is great and we love her, too, but she isn’t the leader you are.”

Buffy shook her head, but a smile spread across her face. “I suppose you’re stuck with me, then,” she agreed. She smiled at her companions, then returned her attention to T’Challa. “So, if you approve… does that mean the alliance stands?”

T’Challa smiled. “I would like to discuss some of the finer details of the agreement. But you can count on Wakandan support, yes. I will be most pleased to work with you and your organization.” T’Challa offered his hand and Buffy took it. They shook to the muted cheering of the young Slayers who sat beside them.


	8. August 7 - Witchy Ways

Willow sat outside, cross-legged in the grass with her eyes closed. She focused on her magic, on the power inherent in nature. Wove it with her own, reaching through the Earth towards her best girl friend. 

Buffy was half a world away, down in Wakanda, and Willow could reach her much faster in an emergency. But this was just a check-in, and so she preferred to use her magic in a more subtle way. Since she had the time to spare.

She was not expecting to have her ‘call’ intercepted.

The power Willow sensed on the other end of the connection was immense, but very different from the power Buffy contained as the prime Slayer. And apparently ready to go on the offensive.

_ Woah, wait, hold on. Um, I come in peace? _ She held her breath, hoping for a response.

_ Who are you? _ The mental ‘voice’ was definitely female, very strong, and tinged with sadness to Willow’s senses.

_ My name is Willow. My friend is staying in Wakanda for a while, and I’m just checking in on her. _

The woman on the other end of the connection paused for a moment, then the sense of power withdrew to some extent.  _ My apologies. I was not expecting… this. Most people use telephones. _ The mental tone became wry, and Willow chuckled to herself.

_ I suppose we’re too used to dealing with threats and bad guys, _ Willow admitted sheepishly.  _ Phones can be blocked, broken or lost. _

Laughter echoed down the telepathic connection.  _ I can understand that. I am Wanda, sometimes called the Scarlet Witch. _

_ Small world, _ Willow replied, laughing herself.  _ I’m sometimes called the Red Witch. _

_ Your power does not manifest as red, _ Wanda’s thought mused.

_ Not like yours does. But I’m a red-head. Dunno who latched onto that as a defining feature, but there it is. _

_ I like Willow better. There is much of the feel of nature in your power. _ Wanda’s tone turned wistful.

_ Thank you. I’m kinda attached to it, myself. I’m using earth-magic to reach so far away, though. That’s probably more of what you’re sensing. _

Wanda paused.  _ Hmm. Interesting. I should let you check on your friend, though. But, perhaps sometime, we could speak again? _

The loneliness in Wanda’s voice made Willow’s heart ache.  _ I’d like that, Wanda. If you’re in Buffy’s vicinity, I could have her give you my email address too? _

_ Oh, you’re a friend of Buffy’s? She’s both amusing and terrifying at once. _

_ That’s a good description for Buffy. But she’s one of my oldest friends, and she’ll help us connect if I ask. _

Willow waited, giving Wanda time to make up her own mind. When the answer came, it was soft.  _ Ask, please. I would… I would like a friend who understands magic. _

_ I know the feeling. I’ll ask. Promise. _

The sensation of connection faded and left Willow to seek out Buffy instead. Willow fell into the familiar sensation of contacting Buffy’s mind just a few minutes later.  _ Hey Buff. How’s it going down in Wakanda? _

_ Going pretty good. You? _

_ I just ‘met’ someone who feels extremely powerful. She intercepted my communication spell! I kinda think I might like to meet her sometime… _


	9. August 8 - Inter-Agency Cooperation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter that's set prior to the primary timeline of the story. Sometime 2003-ish.

Sometime 2003-ish

Agent Phil Coulson smothered his expression of surprise when a bright-eyed, brown-haired teenage girl answered the door at the house he’d been directed to. According to their files, Mr. Rupert Giles was a single, middle-aged Englishman with no family in the US.

“Yes, can I help you?” the girl asked in a strong Californian accent despite being in Cleveland.

“Does Mr. Rupert Giles live here?” Coulson asked tentatively. He heard a soft snort from May, who stood at the bottom of the porch steps; hopefully the girl hadn’t heard her too.

“Yeah, sure,” the girl said. She opened the door more fully and stepped back to allow them entrance. Coulson noted that she didn’t verbally invite them in, but accepted the unspoken cue regardless.

“Buffy, tell Giles someone’s here to see him!” the girl yelled up the stairs as she led them past and into a comfortable living room.

“Buffy?” May asked in a low voice.

“Yes, it’s actually her name,” the girl answered with a sigh of long-suffering. “Pretty sure Giles is in his office, and Buffy’s is closer so she’ll let him know.”

“If you mean Buffy Summers, we might like to have a word with her too if she has time,” Coulson spoke up as the girl waved them towards seats.

“She probably can,” the girl answered. She stood in the room’s doorway and yelled again, “Buffy, you too!”

A moment later, a petite blonde entered the room followed by an older man. “Sheesh, Dawn, there’s no need for all the yelling. These our guests?” Two cool gazes assessed the agents in their living room.

“Yup,” the girl, Dawn, answered cheerfully. Both their visitors sat on comfortable chairs, clearly illuminated by the sunlight streaming in the windows, so Buffy wasn’t overly worried. 

“Yes, thank you, Dawn. I think we’d best handle it from here,” Giles said, ushering her from the room and closing the door. Dawn pouted, but didn’t argue.

Coulson stood as Giles approached and offered his hand. “Agent Phil Coulson. This is Agent Melinda May.” Giles took his hand for a brief shake, then extended the same to May.

“I thought Agenty-people came with badges at the ready?” Buffy commented idly. She also exchanged handshakes with the two agents, carefully keeping her strength in check. “I’m Buffy Summers, but if you asked for me too I’d guess you already knew that.”

“We did,” Coulson acknowledged as they all took seats again. “We’re part of an ongoing investigation into what happened to Sunnydale, California. I understand you’re both survivors of the fallout.”

“We are, and we’re aware that’s all a matter of record,” Giles responded. “We have already been through an official inquiry on the matter. I’m afraid if you want to ask further questions, I must insist on seeing your official identification.”

Coulson had to admit that they were in the right. Fury may have wanted SHIELD’s involvement kept quiet, but faced with two savvy individuals - and he could tell Buffy was savvy, despite her valley girl speech and attitude - Coulson was fairly sure he wouldn’t get anything from them without some amount of give and take.

Pulling his ID out of his jacket pocket, he presented it to Giles. “As I said, I’m Agent Coulson. I work for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow, even as she glanced over at the ID badge Giles was examining. “Sounds like someone really, really wanted your initials to spell SHIELD.”

“Our founders were inspired by Captain America,” Coulson said proudly. Buffy tried not to laugh at the way his eyes lit up; after knowing Andrew for so long she could spot a fanboy a mile away. “Besides, that’s at the core of what we do. Protect. Shield.”

Buffy and Giles exchanged a glance. After a moment, Buffy gave a slight nod. “In essence, that is what we do as well. Though please keep in mind, from one protection organization to another, publicly we don’t exist.”

Coulson was a little surprised at the unexpected admission, but shrugged it off after a moment. “We exist on paper, but SHIELD’s specialty is covert ops. Most people wouldn’t want to know what we deal with.”

Buffy snorted. “The world isn’t prepared to know what we deal with,” she said flippantly. “I’m not too sure you are, either, no matter what you’ve experienced before.”

Coulson raised an eyebrow. “You could try me and find out.”

May caught Buffy’s eye and rolled her own eyes in a sympathetic gesture. She rather liked the younger woman, and had the sense Buffy had been through much more than just her hometown falling into a previously-unknown sinkhole. Buffy winked in response.

“Well, Agent Coulson, what if I told you that the world is much older than you know?” she asked, her tone light but her expression uncharacteristically serious.

“I would say… please, tell me more.”


	10. August 9 - Grief & Friendships

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follows on the last chapter. Contains spoilers for AoS but nothing after S3. 2008 Post-Bahrain.

2008 - Post-Bahrain

“Buffy,” an exhausted and stressed Andrew Garner greeted her when he opened the door to his home. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.” He stepped back, allowing her entry without a verbal invitation. She’d managed to instill the habit in most of her friends and was pleased that he remembered - even if it was daylight.

“Hey, Drew,” Buffy gave him a small smile, and he made the effort to return it. “I wish I could’ve been here sooner, but I was a little tied up. How are you holding up?”

Andrew shrugged. “Not great, but better than Mel.” Buffy nodded sympathetically and silently offered him a hug. She wasn’t surprised when he accepted it, just letting him lean into her strength for a few long moments. “I’m worried about her, Buffy.”

“I know. I heard… well, as much as Phil could tell me.” Buffy sighed. “I get what she’s going through. I thought… maybe it would help.”

“She won’t talk about it. At all.”

“I get that, too.” Buffy sighed. “Take a break, Drew. Catch a nap, take yourself out for a meal or something. Giles and Dawn are at the local House if you want company. I’ll stay here until you get back, promise.”

“I…” Andrew started to object, then shook his head. “You might be right. I’ll go meet up with Rupert, maybe stay for dinner. But if you need anything…”

“I’ll call.” Buffy waited until Andrew was in his car, headed down the street, before looking for Melinda. Not that May was difficult to find; Buffy found her curled up in bed, the lights off and her back turned to the door - and the empty space on the bed.

Ignoring the big, empty space, Buffy circled around the bed and sat on the floor where Mel couldn’t help but see her if she’d just open her eyes. “Hey, Mel,” she said softly. She didn’t really expect an answer, but that was okay. She was more than capable of filling the silence. “I heard you had a pretty horrific mission. I get that, you know?” She saw Melinda’s eyes crack open slightly; the older woman’s expression could’ve been carved from stone for all the emotion it held. But her eyes… Mel’s eyes held a world of pain.

Reaching inside herself for memories that would answer that pain, share in it even if the situations weren’t the same, Buffy sighed. She leaned against the side of the bed and the mattress, holding Melinda’s gaze. And slowly, quietly, began to tell the story of the first Prophecy regarding her own death. The Anointed One. The Master. Then Angel, and Angelus.

Some of the hardest moments of her life, all faced before she was even legally an adult.

It wasn’t the same. When Melinda finally began to talk, her anguished voice speaking quietly of having to kill a little girl because power had driven her mad… Buffy knew it wasn’t the same. But in a way, it kinda was.

“You know… one of the hardest things for me to learn about my line of work was to separate the demon from the human. But those stuffy old Watchers were right about one thing. ‘When you see a friend who has become a vampire, you aren’t looking at your friend. You’re looking at the thing that killed him.’” Buffy took a slow breath. “I know it’s not the same, because she wasn’t possessed by a demon. But in a way, that little girl still lost her life to a power beyond her ability to handle. The power killed her. You only took away the vessel the power tried to claim.”

Melinda shook her head. “I… I can’t. No. Buffy. I  _ killed her _ .” Melinda’s voice broke and she cut herself off rather than continue.

“I know it feels that way now,” Buffy agreed. She moved up to sit on the bed, wriggling herself under Melinda’s head until she could comfortably wrap an arm around her friend. “I know it hurts, and you hate yourself for what you were forced to do. I just… I know, Mel.”

She didn’t comment on the damp patch growing on her clothes as tears finally broke from Melinda’s hold. She didn’t comment on her own streaked cheeks, either. She just sat there quietly as grief released itself for an undetermined amount of time.

When Andrew got home that evening, the two women were curled up together and both asleep. 


	11. August 10 - Hot Chicks With Superpowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, out of chronology. But the last two needed to be sequential.

Summer 2006

“You know, I really was hoping this would be more vacation than work for a change,” Buffy said to Faith as they picked their way across marshy ground in the dim light of twilight. Several of the Slayers based in the eastern US had reported a very unusual-looking meteor-ish thing heading towards New Orleans in the early hours of morning.

According to Willow and Andrew, who had hacked several satellites - including one of Stark’s - whatever it was had been moving too fast to get more than a glimpse of. There were also no reports of an impact anywhere in the area. Which all added up to something fishy, of course.

So of course Buffy had volunteered to go check it out. A complete unknown… and New Orleans was supposed to have a pretty hot nightlife, undead not withstanding.

Faith smirked in reply. “It will be, once we change and hit the town. Hopefully we’ll find this whatever it is quick.”

“Not sure what you girls are looking for, but this is private property,” an unknown voice interrupted.

Buffy blinked at the statuesque blonde who stood some ten yards away. Either this woman moved faster than even Slayer senses could detect, or she was impossibly sneaky. Neither Buffy nor Faith had even known she was there until she spoke.

“Is it?” Buffy decided to go the route of innocence. “I’m sorry. There wasn’t a sign or anything.”

The woman shook her head. “Don’t usually need a sign or a fence; when you only have ten neighbors, pretty much everyone knows what land is whose. Mind telling me what you’re looking for?”

“Friend of ours saw a meteorite or somethin’ this morning,” Faith offered. “Stuff falling from the sky is usually either interesting or dangerous, so we thought we’d check it out.”

The woman looked between them. “You girls aren’t quite what you seem, I think,” she said after a moment. “There’s nothing to find. Promise.”

“But… there were at least half a dozen people who saw the streak of light in this direction.”

The woman swore under her breath - or at least Buffy thought it was swearing. She couldn’t understand a word of it, though. “Come on up to the house. I’ll try to explain.”

Exchanging a glance, the two Slayers decided to take a chance and follow. They were reasonably confident in their ability to get away if this ended up being some kind of trap, but the woman didn’t set off their senses as evil or supernatural in any way. And as the two oldest Slayers to date, their senses were pretty well honed and getting stronger with time.

“Sure, thanks,” Buffy said as they started walking. “By the way, I’m Buffy, and this is Faith.”

“Carol. Nice to meet you both.” Carol led them crosswise across a sort of a field and towards a stand of trees. After a moment, Buffy began to see lights shining between the trees. As they got closer, she could see a sprawling house, with a couple of darkened outbuildings.

“Nice place,” Faith commented politely as Carol let them into the house.

“Thanks. It’s home, at least when I’m around. Maria!” Carol raised her voice as she called Maria’s name.

“What’s…? Oh, hello. I’m Maria.”

“Maria, meet Buffy and Faith,” Carol introduced them briefly. “They came looking for the ‘meteorite’ and… well… they seem different somehow. So I invited them in to talk.”

Maria slanted a questioning look at Carol, but Carol just shrugged. “Your call, girl,” Maria finally said. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Just water would be great,” Buffy replied politely. “It’s kinda warm this far south.”

When they were all settled with drinks ready to hand, silence reigned for several minutes. Finally Faith spoke up. “You said there’s nothing to find out there. According to what we were told, a meteorite putting off that kind of light so close to the ground wouldn’t have been able to finish burning up before it hit.”

“You know, you don’t look like an astrophysicist,” Carol said with a laugh.

“God, no!” Faith recoiled. “I ain’t that kinda smart. But we know some folks who are.”

Maria gave Faith a _ look _ and Faith had to look away; it was the same look Diana used to give her when she undersold her own skills. Giles had never quite managed to duplicate it, but she’d gotten the same look from Joyce once or twice back in Sunnydale.

“Is that really why you’re here?” Carol asked after a moment.

“It really is,” Buffy agreed. “The short version is that we have prior experience with things that aren’t really meteors being of the bad.”

“And if I promise you I have no intention of being ‘of the bad’ then what?” Carol asked.

“That was _ you _?” Faith demanded, tensing. 

Buffy laid a calming hand on her sister Slayer’s arm. “If you have no plans to hurt anyone or try to end the world or whatever, then we have no problems with you.”

Rather than answering verbally, Carol stood up from the couch. She channeled her power through her body and was soon floating several feet above the ground, not quite reaching the ceiling of the room. The glow of power suffused her body and she relaxed into it for a moment before letting it fade away and set her back on the ground.

“No fair, B. I want powers like _ that _,” Faith flopped back into her seat, pouting playfully.

“So you do have powers of some kind,” Carol stated, more confirmation than question. Buffy nodded anyway.

“Have you ever heard the legend of the Slayer?” Buffy asked.

“Can’t say that I have,” Carol replied.

Maria surprised them both with her quiet comment, “I think I have. My grandmother… she used to tell stories about a girl chosen to protect the world from demons of myth and legend. But I always thought they were just stories.”

“Might be by this point,” Faith commented with a shrug. “But it’s possible there was a Slayer in your family somewhere a long time ago and stories got passed down.”

“Would have had to either have been a girl the Council missed, or else long enough ago that the Council couldn’t keep track of all the potential Slayers,” Buffy mused. “Either is possible, especially with your roots probably in Africa. There are a couple of African cultures and countries that won’t have anything to do with the old Watchers.”

Maria looked startled, and Carol confused. Finally Carol asked, “Would someone please explain for the obvious blonde in the room?”

Faith snickered and Buffy looked mildly put out.

“Well, the way grandmama always started was, ‘there’s only one girl in the world at a time…’” Maria began.


	12. August 11 - One-Eyed Tacticians

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline undetermined - sometime between the end of S7 BTVS and pre-Avengers

“Director Fury, your three o’clock has arrived,” his secretary’s voice came over the intercom.

“Send her in,” Fury replied. He was expecting a representative from the Slayers. Buffy Summers was a surprisingly good leader for the group, just being naturally charismatic with a good head on her shoulders despite showing exactly the opposite face to most of the world. Faith Lehane was a damn good fighter and always had Summers’ back 100%, which Fury approved of, but her demeanor was more overtly sexual than Fury preferred in a professional relationship. 

Even if Fury knew she didn’t mean it most of the time.

He had to hide his surprise when instead of the young woman he’d been expecting, his assistant showed a young man into his office instead. He looked almost more boyish, but like Fury he wore a patch over one eye - and his good eye showed iron-edged determination and sharp intelligence.

“Director Fury,” the man greeted him, holding out his hand. “Buffy sends her apologies, but a potential threat revealed itself in Romania a few days ago and she had to rearrange priorities.”

“Understandable,” Fury responded, shaking the offered hand firmly. “Please sit, Mr…?”

“Harris, Xander Harris,” Harris filled in the blank for him. He took the offered seat and handed over a slim folder.

“This is the discussed offer?” Fury took the folder but didn’t open it immediately.

As they hammered out the details of separating jurisdiction between SHIELD and the ICWS, Fury began to understand why Summers had sent Harris in her stead while she was unavailable. Though the man may give off an affable impression, he was a shrewd tactician and a firm negotiator.

“If you ever decide you’re looking for a somewhat different line of work, call me,” Fury said after they wrapped up.

Harris smiled. “I could say the same to you, Fury. As a founding member of the new council, my priorities have to be with my girls. I’m sure you understand.”

Fury nodded. “I had to ask. Stay safe.”

“You as well.” 


	13. August 12 - Weapons of Honor

“I have a gift for you, Isibulala ,” Shuri stated with a pleased smile.

Having quickly grown used to the native translation for Slayer while in Wakanda, Buffy simply turned to the princess with a smile of her own. “You honor me, Princess Shuri,” she responded with a brief bow.

Shuri bowed back, presenting Buffy with a long, thin box. Buffy set it down on a nearby table to open it. Inside the careful wrappings was a long spear with a wide metal point, etched with symbols for Wakanda, the Slayer, protection runes, and a few others that Buffy didn’t readily recognize. She lifted the weapon out of the box and discovered that it was perfectly balanced and somewhat lighter than she’d expected. “It’s beautiful,” she said, twirling it carefully.

“It is a sonic spear, a Wakandan invention. Many of our elite warriors carry them. They absorb kinetic energy, are nearly impossible to break - though I wouldn’t rule it impossible for a Slayer with enough power, so please don’t deliberately attempt it - and in a pinch can shoot sonic waves at your enemies.”

Ayanda looked over the spear with an expression of awe. “Buffy… they don’t just give these to anybody! Very few have ever left Wakanda,” she explained.

“This one is slightly modified, balanced for a wielder with more than human strength,” Shuri commented proudly. “You are all experts with nearly any weapon that comes to your hand, naturally. But if your girls choose to gain true skill with a spear, send them to me and if they prove themselves worthy of it I will make one for them, too.”

“Truly?” Ayanda lit up with eagerness.

Buffy grinned. “I’ve had the time to study a lot of weapons and weapon styles, and I have seriously enjoyed training with the Dora Milaje as time permits. If it’s something you want to learn, Ayanda, I will teach you what I can.”

“I do!” The younger Slayer bounced excitedly.

“It is good,” Shuri said, resting a hand on Ayanda’s shoulder. “You have no idea how pleased I am that you will not be denied the skills and weapons of our people, even as you learn weapons from masters around the world.”

“You have no idea how many times I’ve regretted that you don’t have Slayer potential, Shuri,” Buffy said softly. “You’d have been one of the best, I think.”

Shuri blushed at the unexpected praise; she was used to being praised for her inventions, for her mind. She hadn’t ever thought to wish she’d been born a Slayer, with all the other gifts she did have. But it pleased her more than she’d ever thought, to have gained Buffy’s regard as such. She bowed. “Thank you, Isibulala. You honor me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isibulala is Xhosa for Slayer, per Google Translate. I'm afraid I don't have better translation options at this time.


	14. August 13 - Shattered Souls

There was a grave for Natasha Romanov at the local cemetery in a little town in Iowa. Sarah, the nearest local slayer made an effort to check the farming communities on a somewhat regular basis, just in case. Buffy wasn’t sure why she decided to visit shortly after Sarah reported the grave’s existence. Maybe just because it seemed like an odd resting place for the famous Black Widow.

It was late in the evening, heading towards twilight, when Buffy took a seat beside the grave. She didn’t speak, not knowing what to say to a woman she’d only met once and not known at all. Maybe just to mourn for that lost opportunity. Romanov must not have been a Slayer, or she’d have activated with the rest and been found… or maybe they’d missed her, and that was why she’d been such a badass assassin and superhero? According to the stone, she’d been born in ‘84, which meant she would’ve been approaching 20 when they activated the Potentials. 

For all Buffy knew, Romanov could’ve been the girl fated to be Called after Faith. Their relative ages made it work.

But it was all speculation, of course. Buffy didn’t actually know much about the other woman’s powers beyond what very little the media knew.

“She’s not actually in there, you know,” a voice interrupted her musing. Buffy looked up to see Clint Barton standing not far behind her. A little twinge in her slayer-sense hinted that this meeting might’ve been why she was drawn here to begin with.

“That’s not uncommon in my line of work,” Buffy said with a shrug. “What matters is that the living have a place to feel connected to them, if only a little.” She waved her hand at the grass beside her. “Want to tell me about it?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Buffy thought about her answer for a moment. “I always want to know how my people die, so their sacrifices can be remembered appropriately. She may not have been one of mine… but she deserves that same respect, you know?”

Barton nodded slowly. “I never did get your name directly,” he avoided the question for the moment.

“Buffy Summers,” she replied, holding out her hand. 

Barton shook it. “Clint Barton, but I guess you knew that.”

“The Avengers don’t exactly have low profiles, no,” Buffy agreed.

“Nat tried to figure out who you are, you know,” Clint mused thoughtfully. “She didn’t get very far, and I expect that probably frustrated her. But she did try.”

Buffy laughed lightly. “I can see how we’d frustrate a spy’s efforts. There’s very little about our organization at all, either public or private.”

“So you really do hunt demons?”

“Among other things, yes. We do everything we can to save the world, just from different things than you do most of the time.” 

Barton was silent for a long time. Buffy tilted her head to one side, just waiting. And slowly, so slowly, the heartbreaking story unfolded.

Clint, the only survivor of the Barton family. The depths of grief and vengeance he fell to, a tiny bit of which Buffy had seen for herself. The trip through time to find versions of the Stones from the past. Buffy idly wondered how many alternate timelines their visits had spawned, but didn’t ask the question aloud.

He barely managed to hold onto his composure through the description of what was needed to attain the Soul Stone, and the fight over who would make that sacrifice. How they’d tried to bring her back with everybody else, but it was impossible. Her sacrifice irrevocable.

“I get that,” Buffy offered in a low voice. “Both the grief at being left behind, and the choice to make that kind of sacrifice.”

“How?” Disbelief colored Clint’s voice, but Buffy didn’t take offense. It was pretty unbelievable, all things considered.

So she told him about her own sacrifice, to save her sister’s life. And her friends, and the world. But mostly her sister.

“But… you’re here?”

Buffy sighed. “Yeah. See, my sacrifice? Not as irrevocable, much though I might have wished otherwise. Still, I learned how to live again. It took a long time, but I managed. Mostly.”

“You’d do it again.” It wasn’t a question.

“Of course I would. It’s kinda part of the job, you know?”

“And your sister would be okay with that?”

Buffy snorted. “Not even a little. Neither of them would - my biological sister, Dawn, who I sacrificed myself for the first time; or Faith, the only other Chosen Slayer still living. My sister in everything but genetics. They’d fight me on it, too. Tell me how many others still need me. And they’d be right, but I’m not the only one needed that way either. It would be… probably just as tough as you and Nat. But I would win in the end, just like she did. Because Dawn has children, and a family. Faith has proven herself over and over, and she deserves the chance to see what she could be without me. Me? I love my Slayers, the biggest family I never asked for, and I know they all look up to me. I’m their leader, their general… but I’m not the only one capable of that. And I have my moments, even now, where I would kinda just like to lay it all down and rest again.”

Sensing her need, Clint shifted closer and let Buffy lean against his side. “Who’s there to support you, when you need a break?” he asked very quietly.

Buffy shrugged. “It’s tough at the top.”

“Come have dinner at my place,” he offered impulsively. “Laura loves to have guests.” Buffy wasn’t near as broken as Nat had once been, or as grief-stricken as Wanda when he first invited her home with him. But something in him settled slightly at the idea of a friend who - despite all her strength and resilience - might just need a quiet dinner at home, where she didn’t need to be in charge of anything.


	15. August 14 - Memories on the Farm

Laura Barton was an amazing whirlwind of kindness and good cheer. 

The old farmhouse felt more like a home ten minutes after Buffy’s arrival than London had after their first year of working to rebuild the Council into something worthwhile and useful. 

“Another stray, Clint?” Laura asked quietly while Buffy introduced herself to the kids. Buffy didn’t respond, because a normal woman wouldn’t have been able to hear it anyway.

“Yes. We kinda got to talking over Nat’s grave and… she gets it, you know? Pain, loss, sacrifice. She has done it all, basically. It’s her story to tell, so I won’t get into it,” Clint replied lowly. Laura nodded acceptance. “But I thought she could use a quiet night in a place where she doesn’t have to be anything more than herself.”

“Well, Buffy, I hope you like chicken,” Laura said pleasantly. “Dinner will be ready in about half an hour.”

Time passed with Buffy telling Lila and Cooper about all the exotic places in the world she’d been to, with Clint adding commentary when their travel history crossed over. She didn’t talk about the fights and the demons; she did tell them about the people, the cultures, the sights… and the shopping.

“Sorry, guys, I’m still a California girl at heart,” she said when Cooper groaned over her explanation of the things she found in an open-air market in Thailand.

Dinner was amazing; the kind of things her mom used to make, and that Buffy and Dawn had attempted to duplicate a few times before accepting their lack of skill in the culinary arts. The past decade, Buffy had mostly lived in Slayer sanctuaries; while they were all well-fed, it was more akin to cafeteria food than this farm-fresh spread.

“Thank you,” Buffy breathed in contentment after finishing the third helping foisted on her by Laura when the woman realized Buffy ate like a superhero - or a Slayer. “That was amazing.”

“You’re very welcome,” Laura replied with a smile.

“My organization makes sure we all eat well, but I haven’t had a homemade meal like this in… far too long,” Buffy commented idly. “My sister and I apparently failed to inherit mom’s skill in the kitchen.”

“I have a degree in nutrition and I own a farm,” Laura laughed. “I couldn’t let those benefits go to waste by not knowing what to do with the food I have available.”

“True enough,” Buffy agreed. She picked up her dishes and took them to the sink; the kids had cleared their own places and been excused a little while ago, but Clint and Laura had stayed with her.

“If you plan to visit on a regular basis, I could teach you,” Laura offered. “Assuming you have time, at least.”

“More at some times than others,” Buffy responded with a shrug. “I don’t know if I can make it a regular thing, but I think I’d like a few cooking lessons. At the very least, you can put me to work helping with dinner if I’m here. I’m pretty good with a knife.”

“You’re not the first person to tell me something like that,” Laura chuckled, though there was a wistful expression in her eyes.

“No, I suppose it comes with the territory of knowing fighter types,” Buffy responded softly.

“It’s good to remember the fun times,” Laura added. “It doesn’t matter who we’ve lost or haven’t lost; we need to keep those memories close. You know?”

“Yeah,” Buffy agreed. “Yeah, we do.”


	16. August 15 - Sarcasm & Snark

“So let me see if I’ve got this,” Bruce paced back and forth across the meeting room in Avengers Tower in New York. Pepper had opened it up for their use again, since the facility upstate was completely devastated and there were bigger priorities than rebuilding it in the months following the second battle with Thanos.

“You had the ability to call up a small army of super-powered girls who live right here on Earth, and you didn’t? What, you didn’t think Thanos was that big a threat?” Bruce all but growled.

“Had the ability to call, yes,” Fury replied dryly. “To call them up? Maybe. If they weren’t facing a threat of their own just as big. The ICWS is an independent organization, Banner. They never have and never will answer to SHIELD.”

“ _ What could possibly have been a bigger threat than Thanos _ ?” Bruce demanded furiously.

“A cult of the Old Ones, hoping to use the distraction to open a portal into a demon dimension and unleash hell on Earth,” Buffy spoke up from the doorway. Several people whirled around at the sound of her voice. Fury just smirked at her. “Sorry, guys, but the door was open and your security when it comes to magic is about nonexistent.”

“And you would be..?” Sam Wilson asked suspiciously.

“Gentlemen and ladies, may I introduce Buffy Summers of the ICWS,” Fury said, his tone dripping with blatantly ironic courtesy.

Buffy responded to his sarcasm by sweeping an elegant bow, golden curls swinging around her face as she moved. “A pleasure to meet you all, I’m sure. So to answer big green’s question, yes, we did absolutely have bigger problems on our hands than Thanos. Which isn’t to say that we weren’t affected by him, but that given the fact that  _ you _ were proclaimed ‘Earth’s mightiest heroes’ we didn’t really see a reason to worry about your problems when we had our own.” She rolled her eyes. “If we’d helped you stop Thanos but the cult had managed to actually open a hellmouth I’m pretty sure we’d have lost far more than we did. And permanently, not in any sort of fixable way.”

“And to be honest, I think I did pretty good in managing to hit the call button for Captain Marvel, while my body was disintegrating into its component carbon,” Fury added in the dryest tone Buffy had ever heard aloud.

“Everybody calm down,” Carol said before Bruce or Sam could respond to Fury in kind. Then she smiled and crossed the room to Buffy. “It’s good to see you again, Buffy. If I’d known what this meeting was about, I’d have called and brought you in with me. So you didn’t have to just drop in. 

The two women exchanged a quick hug. “It’s fine, Carol. I’m used to dropping into places unexpectedly. Nice to see you back on Earth, though. You’ve been pretty scarce the past few years.”

“Yeah, well. Lots of worlds out there, suffering the same losses as Earth. But without Avengers, or Slayers for that matter. I mean, I think other worlds might have Slayers but they haven’t broken the cap on one at a time like you have.”

“Interesting. I’m sure Willow and Dawn will want to discuss that with you later,” Buffy commented. “Anyway, before some of your people combust in fits of temper, yes I represent the ICWS. That’s the International Council of Watchers and Slayers, by the by. Yes, we have some nifty abilities, no we’re not the product of experiments. Our abilities are supernatural in origin. And the supernatural - demons, vampires, demonic cults, that sort of thing - is where we usually focus our attention. Extraterrestrial mortals aren’t really our bag of tricks.”

“And yet, you know Carol,” Wanda observed in a low voice.

Buffy made a face and Carol laughed. “We met by accident. I was tracking something we thought was more mystical than scientific - oh, what, mid 2000s Carol?”

“2006? Maybe 2007? I lose track because the rest of the universe doesn’t follow Earth’s calendar by any stretch of imagination,” Carol replied carelessly.

“Anyway, that something turned out to be Carol dropping in to visit her family,” Buffy finished. “We chatted a bit, traded stories of waking up one day with superpowers, and kept in touch as we were able over the years.”

Sam eyed Buffy for a moment. “Do people really still buy the valley girl act?” he asked, amused. “I mean, you look like you’re a twenty-something, most of the time, but…”

Buffy laughed. “Yes, actually, they do. And what do you mean, ‘most of the time?’”

“It’s your eyes, doll,” Bucky spoke up. “The look of someone who has seen more horror than they ever expected to. Some of us see it in the mirror all the time.”

Buffy sighed and dropped into a chair at the conference table, “I can’t deny that, but you didn’t invite me here for the sordid tale that is my life. So, what can I do for you?”

“Are you really serious?” Bruce asked slowly. “Portals, demons..?”

“Why would she not be?” Wanda asked. “Demons walk among us. Some with the faces of men. Many peoples know this.”

“Sounds like superstition and propaganda to me,” Sam said with a shake of his head. Bruce nodded emphatic agreement.

“You people just finished part two of a war that should’ve been ended five years ago when Thanos destroyed the stones and you killed Thanos,” Buffy pointed out dryly. “Then you went skipping around time and space, possibly creating alternate timelines, in order to get the stones back and fix your mistakes. Pot? Kettle.” She pointed from herself to the others with that last comment.

“Guys, you have a teammate called the Scarlet Witch, you’ve partnered with aliens and a talking raccoon, and you’ve worked with Earth’s Sorceror Supreme,” Carol said, rolling her eyes. “Get over yourselves. There are many things in this galaxy that you haven’t experienced, let alone on this world.”

“So are we back to the ‘why am I here’ question, or did you want to dither over your sciency meltdown a little longer?” Buffy snarked. 

“I think what we’d really like to know is whether our group can work with yours as needed,” Bucky said before anyone else could answer. “I get that you deal with things we don’t understand, but we can learn. And it wouldn’t hurt for either group to have the other on standby if we’re talking about the apocalypse.”

“Well, we avert one or two of those a year, on average,” Buffy began.

“What, apocalypses?”

“Exactly.” Buffy grinned, pleased that someone — for once — knew the plural of apocalypse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had way too much fun with this one. I was seriously in a mood.


	17. August 17 - A Favor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm aware that I skipped a day. I had a bad day and so ended up doing something else for the 16th. But this one follows directly on the 15th, so I'm rearranging just a little for ease of reading.

“May I ask a favor of you?” Wanda ventured quietly. She had followed Buffy out of the Avengers meeting when the more scientific-minded degenerated into griping about their precious laws of physics.

“Depends,” Buffy replied after a moment. “What is the favor?”

“Natasha had begun training me on purely physical combat, in case I ever found myself in a situation where my powers were not enough,” Wanda explained. “To have survived for as long as you have in an all but endless battle, you must have a lot of skill. If you are willing, I would like your help in learning some of that skill.”

Blinking, Buffy studied Wanda for a long moment. “I’d have thought your team would handle training?”

Wanda sighed and shrugged. “I worked closely with Natasha and Clint. Steve would help with technique and tactics, but had a difficult time holding back enough to train with someone physically less… resilient. The others… we have trained to work as a team, but not… this.”

“You’re serious about this?” Buffy asked, though she more or less already knew the answer.

Drawing herself up straight and proud, Wanda nodded. “Yes.”

In response, Buffy held out one hand. Wanda took it tentatively. “Now, please, Dawn,” Buffy said aloud, though Wanda tilted her head as she sensed something more than verbal accompanying what she heard. A portal tinged with green energy opened right beside them. “Come on. We can send you back at any time, but we have facilities exactly for this sort of thing.”

They stepped through to the Slayer house in Delaware, which was the closest to NYC they got.

“Buffy!” several voices greeted them enthusiastically. A gorgeous brunette with vivid blue eyes hugged Buffy, and Buffy whispered thanks to her sister for the convenient exit.

“Hey everyone!” Buffy responded cheerfully to the crowd of girls. “This is Wanda, and she’s here to work out with me. She’s not a Slayer, but she could use some lessons in our sort of skills. Anybody want to help?”

Several voices agreed; Wanda noticed girls as young as eight or nine all the way up through late teens in the crowd of volunteers.

“Awesome,” Buffy enthused. “Thanks. I’ll give a holler once I figure out where her skill level is at, okay?”

“Have fun!” one of the older girls said cheekily.

“These girls… all Slayers?” Wanda asked softly as Buffy led the way further into the building.

“Yes,” Buffy agreed smoothly. “I don’t think any of us had any idea that changing the rules would change them for everyone going forward, too. But that’s how it happened, so we’re doing everything we can to make sure all the girls are found, taught, and cared for.”

Wanda sighed softly. “I wish I could have been one of them. It would have been nice… to belong somewhere.”

“Hey,” Buffy stopped and turned to Wanda. “If you’d rather stay with us than the Avengers, we can make it happen. We have lots of people in our organization, not just Slayers. We have researchers, historians, linguists, and even other witches.”

“I… would have to think about it. I am not sure the team is ready to handle another loss,” Wanda said quietly.

Buffy smiled sympathetically. “I get that. Well, we’re not going anywhere and we’re not in a rush. You get to make your own choices. For now, let’s get that assessment done, yeah?”

Wanda nodded. It really had been an idle thought that just sort of slipped out. Maybe she was just lonely, her closest friends among the Avengers all being gone. But Buffy was right about one thing.

It was nice to have a choice.

“Besides,” Buffy finished with a grin as she flipped on the lights in the training gym. “Willow is dying to meet you in person."


	18. August 16 - Battle Banter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting to the one I skipped. :)

“So, any cuties among the super-powered?” Faith asked coyly as she and Buffy fought back to back against a mixed pack of demons. A few Fyarral, some Gatbar, some Sathari, and a handful of vamp minions; nothing too dangerous for the Chosen Two, but still a threat if they let themselves get distracted.

Of course, banter while battling was hardly a distraction for either of them.

“A couple,” Buffy answered as she ducked under the swipe of a presumably-poisoned blade. The Sathari  _ were _ typically assassins after all. “Bucky Barnes is definitely hot, but he might be a little too broken for our kind of life. Wilson’s pretty hot, but he’s a supernatural skeptic - despite working with superhumans.”

“Damn. I was hoping for a guy who could keep up with us.” Faith lashed out at a Fyarral, slicing into it with her silver edged sword.

“Come with me to New Asgard next time,” Buffy offered. “Plenty of hotness there, and they’re all naturally stronger than humans.” She kicked a vamp backwards into the two behind it, reversing the Scythe smoothly to stake with the wooden end and then beheaded another with the blade on the backswing.

“True. Though I hear they have a chronic case of immortality,” Faith commented. “That could suck for mortal relationships.”

“Faith, you haven’t aged any more than I have since the Activation Spell,” Buffy reminded her sister Slayer. “Immortal relationships might be for the best for us, at this point.” And if not, hopefully they’d at least always have each other.

Faith shot a cheeky grin at her sister as she took down the last of the Fyarrals. “Better than an undead boyfriend, I guess.”

Rolling her eyes, Buffy kicked a vamp towards Faith and bypassed it to cleave into a Gatbar on her way past. “Lots of things are better than that. I’m over the years of star-crossed teenage love affairs, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, B. You and me both.” With the last two disgusting demons finally dead, the pair stopped to catch their breath. “So… shower, snack and a club?”

“You know it.”


	19. August 18 - Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ficlet more or less follows on the one prior. So it's probably for the best that I rearranged a bit.
> 
> I still do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Avengers or anything to do with the MCU.

“This was an awesome idea, B!” Faith exclaimed boisterously. She’d had a bit more of the mead the Asgardians made than perhaps she ought, but Buffy was there and still mostly sober - though they’d come to visit partly as an escape.

Two nights ago, they’d lost one of their own: Samantha, a nineteen year old Slayer from North London, had died before backup could get to her. She’d been overconfident about taking down a nest of vampires and went in by herself without knowing there was a Master Vamp in residence.

That particular Master, and his minions, had all subsequently been taken out. But both Buffy and Faith still felt every loss. They took it personally, because ultimately they were responsible for whether the girls learned enough to survive.

But Asgardians saw the death of a warrior rather differently.

“She went down fighting, in a battle she chose, and saved the lives of several who would otherwise have been killed by the enemy,” Brunnhilde consoled Buffy privately. “We will help you to celebrate her life and her achievements. Of course you will miss her, mourn for her even. But she made her own choices, and while you taught her as much as she would learn ultimately the choice to battle or not was hers to make.”

Buffy slanted a glance at the Valkyrie. “The way I hear it, you took centuries to get over certain losses. Some things are difficult to celebrate.”

With a sigh, Brunnhilde nodded. “You heard rightly, but I would not see you make the same mistakes I once did.”

“I won’t,” Buffy shook her head. “It might take a little time, but I’ll move past it.” She sighed. “I have a fair bit of practice at that, and I’m likely to get more over time.”

“Well, you are always welcome here, my friend,” Brunnhilde assured her. “Whether you need something else to think about or just a friend to listen - one who doesn’t blame you when things go wrong - I am here.”

“You think too much, B,” Faith said, coming over to haul Buffy to her feet. “Come dance. Celebrate her properly. You can mourn tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Buffy agreed, letting Faith pull her out among the dancers. For one night, maybe she could just buy the Asgardian party line and celebrate the life of a warrior who chose her own end.


	20. August 19 - A Timely Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitehall mistakes Xander for a SHILED Agent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this ficlet is out of timeline order. I haven't actually picked a point in time when this happened, but it's most likely sometime between CA:TWS and AoS S2 mid-season - because we all know what happened to Whitehall in San Juan. So... mid to late 2014-ish?

“I hope you guys have written your wills, because you’re going to be in so much trouble when my backup arrives,” Xander claimed with all the bravado he could muster. He’d managed to hang on through interrogation and now these asshats wanted to “make him comply.” Well, that was total bullshit. Wasn’t gonna work.

And he really was being serious, despite the brave front. Willow knew he’d been captured, and Xander was fairly certain the Chosen Two were on the way with a squad of minis.

Just because the Slayers didn’t kill humans didn’t mean these guys would get away without a world of hurt.

_ I could really use that rescue, ladies, _ he called silently as Whitehall’s minions strapped him into some kind of device that would force his body to strain and his eyes to stay open.

_ Just a few more seconds, _ Willow’s voice soothed his agitation. Xander counted his breaths; at six, he saw the telltale glow of a portal being opened right in the middle of the lab.

“What the hell is that?” demanded Whitehall.

“Justice,” Xander managed, despite the punch in the stomach he received in response.

Then Buffy jumped through the portal before it fully finished opening. Faith rolled her eyes as she led the rest, waiting for the magic to stabilize but only just. Xander gave his best grin as ten pissed off Slayers poured into the lab, intent upon crashing the party.

Normal soldiers, and even some of the enhanced, didn’t stand a chance against the ladies in the rescue party. Most of them were down before they could put up much of a fight, though one or two of the younger Slayers were shot - non-fatally, thankfully, but Xander knew that bullet wounds were seldom “minor” even if they hit extremities.

Unfortunately, Whitehall himself did manage to escape. But Xander thought they’d caught one of his deputies.

“We’ll take them back to question, and then turn them over to law enforcement,” Buffy said firmly. “This is out of our jurisdiction, more or less, but they can’t say anything about our involvement given the circumstances.”

“Makes sense,” Xander agreed.

“You be sure to get checked over, Xan,” Faith reminded him as she helped him through the return portal.

“I will. Promise. I’m not near-indestructible like you and the Buffster.” Xander grinned, and Faith smirked in return.

“See that you do. And god, I’m starting to sound like Giles,” Faith lamented with a dramatic sigh.

Xander laughed. It was always a relief when his belief in his friends and teammates was rewarded; it always had been, ever since high school.

It was good to be home.


	21. August 20 - New Friends

“You don’t like me much, do you Miss Summers?”

Buffy turned away from the picture window showing the New York skyline with a quiet sigh. Most of the Avengers were still in post-mission medical, while she waited for them to make it to the debrief. She hadn’t been actively avoiding Barnes, but she hadn’t exactly been the most welcoming either, she supposed.

“I have nothing against you, personally,” Buffy hedged. Bucky just raised an eyebrow at her, expression skeptical. “I have a lot of respect for what you’ve managed to accomplish despite everything that happened to you. No, really, I do. But being involved with my part of the weirdness that is our world is full of heartache, loss, and terror. You don’t need more of that, and I really don’t want to be the one to do more damage. You deserve better.”

The room was silent for several long minutes. Bucky joined her by the window, looking out but not really seeing as he considered her words. “I’ve been through a lot, it’s true,” when he spoke, it was in a low voice. “Didn’t have much choice, then. Since getting away from all that, I’ve had to make a lot of hard choices. Choices about myself, about my life, and about the risks I’m willing to take to try to make up for some of the harm I did as a weapon for others.”

Buffy tilted her head to the side, studying him out of the corner of her eye. “I know. And I think you’re doing good, for whatever that’s worth.”

“Thanks.” He chuckled a little under his breath. “Listen, if you don’t like me, that’s fine. You have a right to choose who you want to be friends with. But if you’re holding back because you think it would be bad for me to be friends with you… then don’t. That should be my choice to make.”

“People I’m close to tend to become targets. It means I tend to worry about pretty much everyone,” Buffy admitted.

Bucky scoffed. “I’m plenty dangerous all on my own, doll. You don’t need to worry about that. I might be broken and healing, but I can hold my own.”

She sighed softly. “And if I’m broken too?”

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that,” Bucky said immediately. “We all have our limits, and there’s no one in this group at least who hasn’t broken and remade themselves. Some of us, more than once.”

“I’m not always good at the remaking part,” Buffy admitted quietly. “I have a little more support, now, but a couple of my closest friends… have always been quick to blame me if things go wrong. It’s one of the reasons I travel around as much as I do.”

“You can always blame the person in charge if the mission goes wrong, but that don’t mean it’s actually their fault,” Bucky huffed. “If your friends haven’t learned that by now… you’ve been fightin’ this fight for what… twenty years?”

“Closer to thirty, for those of us around in the last five.”

“You don't look that old," Bucky responded with a sort of honest flattery that had once come so naturally to him. "But that’s a long time to be taking the fallout. I can see why you travel, if that’s the case.” Buffy just nodded rather than replying. Bucky let the silence draw out, then offered, “You can always call if you need some of that support you’re lacking. I’d like to be friends, if you’re willing.” Maybe someday more than friends, but he didn’t think she was ready to hear that just yet.

“Okay,” she agreed after a moment. “Let’s give it a try.” She held out her hand, and Bucky took it with a smile.

“I think we’re gonna be fine friends, doll,” Bucky said.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “You know, nobody uses that term anymore. I’m a Buffy, not a Barbie.”

Snickering, Bucky shook his head. “Ain’t like that, but I’ll try to stop if it bothers you.”

She considered the term, then nodded. “I have enough bizarre and awkward nicknames. I don’t need another one, I don’t think.”

“I’ll see if I can’t come up with something else that you prefer,” Bucky agreed. “Though I can’t promise not to slip every once in a while.”

Buffy smiled. “I think I can handle that.”


	22. August 21 - Earning A Spear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just can't seem to stay out of Wakanda.

Six months.

That was how long it had taken for Ayanda to move from proficiency with a spear to expertise. Being a Slayer helped, of course, because basic skill with any weapon was part of the deal. But the Wakandan native had thrown herself into the practice of spear fighting after Shuri’s promise to provide Slayers with Wakandan weapons if they gained true skill.

Buffy stood against the wall, watching as Ayanda sparred with one after another of the Dora Milaje. They tested her defense, her offense, and her ability to cope with multiple attackers; Ayanda was getting tired, Buffy could tell, but she still held her own.

“Enough!” Okoye called. All movement on the training floor halted immediately. Ayanda turned towards the elder warrior with a respectful expression and hope in her eyes. “You have done well, little sister.”

Ayanda lit up under the praise, and her eyes darted towards Buffy; Buffy nodded her agreement, smiling proudly. “Thank you, Dora,” Ayanda replied, saluting confidently.

“We are all proud of you,” Shuri said, stepping forward with a box in her hands. A box identical to the one she’d gifted to Buffy six months ago. She held out the box. “Especially that you are the first, aside from your leader. Carry it with pride and honor, Isibulala Ayanda.”

Ayanda opened the box and removed the spear, pleased and proud. As she should be. She had worked hard, and the gift was well earned.

Buffy was fairly certain Ayanda would only be the first to earn herself a gift from Shuri. Some of the girls were so used to Buffy owning and using unique weapons, they assumed the spear was something similar despite being told of Shuri’s offer. Now that Ayanda had one, too, it was more likely the minis would believe the offer genuine.

Which probably meant Buffy had better get Faith here, so she didn’t feel left out. She might not have spent the training time Ayanda had, but she was only a little behind Buffy in sheer Slayer power despite missing out on five years. It gave them a definite edge, though Buffy definitely still trumped in experience.

Though if the Chosen Two really had become immortal, as their lack of aging suggested, Buffy supposed eventually the gap would be meaningless.

“I did it, Buffy!” She was startled from her thoughts just in time to catch and hug an overly-excited Ayanda.

“You did, and I’m proud of you too,” Buffy assured her. “We can do some training when we get home, if you want. Show off your new shiny.”

“Awesome!”


	23. August 22 - Flight Simulator

Buffy relaxed back into her chair. She loved the virtual reality flight simulators the Wakandans used for flight training. It was fully immersive, so that it felt real. Which made sense, because while a majority of their combat jets were able to have an actual pilot, more often than not they were flown via remote from a device like this one - just, you know, with an actual plane receiving the signals at the other end.

“The only pilot whose record you have not yet beaten is my brother’s, Buffy,” Shuri said with a teasing smile. “You’re ready to try a live exercise.”

Buffy sighed, but smiled anyway. “When I was younger, I wasn’t even allowed to drive a car. Given my enhanced reflexes and greater visual acuity, I scared the daylights out of my mother when she tried to teach me. I drove too fast, stopped too abruptly, and sometimes expected the car to respond faster than it could.”

Shuri chuckled. “I understand, though I think I am grateful to never have experienced it. I expect you’d have been better off in a race car or other high performance vehicle, rather than the average family car. But a plane is different. It’s already going much faster, and a jet is designed to be a highly responsive, precision machine.”

“You’re likely right,” Buffy agreed. When she had finally learned how to drive, it had been in Germany where everybody was driving like mad down the Audubon. Slayer reflexes had allowed for several near-misses rather than accidents as she learned.

They used a similar trick with all the Slayers, now. Simulators for learning controls, laws and how to respond to a given situation; then wide open spaces without an enforceable speed limit for live practice. It helped that Buffy, Faith, Xander and the other Slayers old enough to be ‘driving chaperones’ in most licensed countries had enough experience, similar reflexes, or both, so the driving of newbie slayers behind the wheel didn’t bother them nearly as much.

Shuri grinned. “Well, then, I expect you’ll have your license as soon as it’s delivered.”

“Wait, what?” Buffy blinked in shock.

“I did not tell you, but this was a live simulation. You performed beautifully, and passed all the needed tests for an international pilot’s license,” Shuri informed her smugly.

Eyes wide, Buffy gaped for a moment. Then she shook her head, beginning to laugh. “All right, fine. You got me. Sassy little princess.”

Shuri laughed with her. “As you would say to me, ‘takes one to know one.’”

And she was right.

But that was half the fun of their friendship. They were two very different people, but they understood each other. Perhaps better than their siblings would like.


	24. August 23 - Reunions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was in the mood for a little more Faith when I wrote this one.

“Hey, girl. How’s it going?” Maria greeted Faith with a smile.

“Going pretty well. How’s the family?” Faith responded. She liked the cozy farmhouse just outside of New Orleans. It was comfortable, Maria was always friendly, Carol was fun to spar with, and Monica was married and working for NASA these days but still occasionally dropped some intel to the Slayers when she saw something that might be more their style to deal with.

Faith and Monica had actually built an interesting, if unfortunately long-distance, friendship over the years. They were pretty close to the same age, and Monica had never given Faith any crap for not having the same level of book-smarts.

“Good,” Maria said with a smile. Her expression turned sad for a moment. “They missed us,” she admitted quietly. “I was… gone, too.”

“We’re here now. Isn’t that the important thing?” Faith offered in a low voice.

“Of course.” Maria brightened again, standing back from the door to let Faith in. “Just you tonight?”

“For now, yeah. B plans to drop by in a few days, but she’s got a lot on her plate with everybody back again.”

“And you’re avoiding helping her?” Monica chimed in as they entered the house proper. 

“Auntie Faith!”

Faith caught the little girl who ran to her for a hug, suddenly sad for her friend who had spent five years without her little girl. If Cara were her proper age, she’d be ten now and Faith would probably be a distant, vague memory instead of a welcome presence.

“Hey, munchkin,” Faith said, scooping her honorary niece up for a snuggle. “You bein’ good for your mom?”

“Of course!” Cara gave Faith an expression of innocence.

Faith laughed. “Good girl. Where’s your brother?” Faith had yet to meet Martin, who was two and had been born during the years Faith had missed.

“Daddy’s making sure he naps,” Cara told her. “He kept sneaking down to check the door ‘cause Gramma Maria said we’d have more company soon.” The girl wiggled until Faith set her down again, then promptly wrapped herself around Maria’s leg. “Right Gramma?”

“You’re right, baby girl,” Maria agreed. “Let’s go check on dinner, hmm?”

“Sure!” The two headed down the hall, leaving the two friends alone.

When Monica moved in for a hug of her own, Faith spent a long moment studying her friend’s face. She had a few more lines around her eyes, and there was sorrow beneath the joy at having her family back again. But otherwise, she seemed like the same old Monica.

“I missed you, Ni,” Faith murmured as they held each other tightly.

“Not as much as I missed you,” Monica returned, hiding her feelings with a dose of sass. 

“Guess I can’t argue with you this time, can I?” Faith said, drawing back with a wry grin.

“Nope. But I am glad you’re here.”

“Me too, Ni,” Faith agreed. “Me too.”


	25. August 24 - Doctoral Research

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set sometime between Thor 2 and Avengers: AoU.

“Janey!” Darcy Lewis called into the busy lab. “Your visitor is here!” Darcy had been hired to be a combination of Jane’s PA and Lab Coordinator. She basically considered herself Head Scientist Wrangler, and as she led Jane’s latest guest into the facility she wondered if she’d end up with another one who needed convincing that breaks were a good thing.

Jane rolled her eyes good-naturedly and typed in one last code string before turning away from her computer. “Dr. Summers?” she asked, raking her gaze over the tall, willowy woman with long brown hair and brilliant blue eyes. 

“Dawn, please,” Dawn said, holding out her hand. Jane shook it. “Thank you for agreeing to my visit.”

“You’re welcome, of course, as long as you’re not going to try to shut us down,” Jane said, half-teasing and half-wary.

Shaking her head, Dawn smiled. “Not at all. But a… mutual connection… suggested that perhaps I should come by with some of my research materials. We may have some crossover in our theories.”

In fact, she’d gotten a tip from one of their associates at SHIELD about Jane’s research into wormholes and bridges between worlds. Dawn had obtained a Masters in astrophysics as a side project while researching the potential powers she might have as the Key. Her doctorate was in ancient languages, to better help her sister’s research teams. But she’d had big dreams and decided to multitask while she was in college.

Buffy always said Dawn was the smart one and should go prove it to the world. But Buffy always downplayed her own intelligence, particularly because she had little interest in school. Buffy had wound up with a Masters in political science eventually, mostly because she kept getting stuck dealing with the families and governments of the Slayers they found.

“Oh, really?” Jane’s question interrupted Dawn’s straying thoughts. “Your doctorate is in languages, though?”

Dawn smirked. “You’d be surprised what ancient civilizations knew that was lost to us over time. And while my masters degree may not stand up to your doctorate, I’m no slouch on the physics side of things either.”

Jane laughed. “You’ve got me there. Okay, come on over and let’s see what you brought.”

As Jane led Dawn further into the labs, Dawn looked curiously at the homemade equipment and the strings of equations and computer code. “You build all your own devices?”

“We’re breaking new ground a lot of the time,” Jane explained readily. “There simply aren’t tools to do what we need them to do, so we make them.”

“That’s pretty awesome,” Dawn agreed. “If you ever get stuck on your code and want a second set of eyes, you could drop me a line. If I can’t spot the issue, probably Willow can.”

“Willow?” Darcy chimed in curiously.

“Dr. Willow Rosenberg. We work together a lot of the time.”

“Willow Rosenberg is one of the foremost computer experts in the world,” Jane murmured with some awe in her tone.

“She’s also a really nice woman,” Dawn said. “And she always loves a challenge. She’d help, if I asked.”

“The world really needs more kickass ladies in charge of things,” Darcy said with some heat. “I wanna meet her, sometime.”

Dawn laughed. “I’ll see what I can arrange.” Though if these two came to visit the ICWS HQ, they’d be in for a lot more surprises than just Willow.


	26. August 25 - We Save The World...

A pitched battle wasn’t exactly the way Buffy and Faith had intended to introduce the minis to the Asgardians.

But as non-decisions went, it wasn’t a bad way to go.

Someone had managed to open a portal to a hell dimension in the next village over from New Asgard; the sudden new death and missing persons reports from that area had alerted the ICWS, and they moved in quickly to handle it.

They hadn’t expected the demons to pour out of the portal as soon as their presence was noticed. Nor had they expected the Asgardians to notice and join the Slayers immediately.

”For Midgard! Protect the people and help the  _ Skjaldmær _ !” Brunnhilde’s voice carried over the noise.

“For Midgard!” the Asgardians echoed as they charged into the fight.

“Get that portal closed!” Buffy called to Dawn, Willow, Angela and Devon - the witches who had joined them for magical support. Even with the additional help, they wouldn’t be able to win while the enemy kept coming.

“Already on it!” Dawn snapped back, her expression one of intense concentration.

The melee was a whirl of chaos, with Buffy’s lightly armored girls intermixed with Asgardians in mail, leather and plate. 

Dawn’s eyes glowed green as she tapped the power of the Key to block the portal and, with help from the other witches, the gaping tear between realities finally closed. After that, the fighting eased off until all that was left was cleanup.

“Thank you for your assistance,” Buffy said to Brunnhilde, reaching out to clasp arms with the Valkyrie.

“We had not fought such foes in quite a long time,” Brunnhilde responded, using her hold on Buffy’s arm to pull the other woman in for a brief hug. “It was our honor to help. You only ever have to ask, you know.”

“This was… bigger than we expected. I’m just glad we were lucky enough to have you nearby.”

Brunnhilde smiled. “Plan for the worst, hope for the best. It’s all any battle leader can do.” Buffy nodded. “Come,” Brunnhilde called out, her voice carrying over the crowd. “Return with us to Asgard. Tonight we feast to our shared victory!”

A cheer went up from the Asgardian warriors, followed quickly by a cheer from the younger Slayers.

We save the world, then we party. That was just how it went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because with Asgardians on Earth... why not?


	27. August 26 - A Taste of Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't been reading in order, this one kinda needs August 14-15 to make sense.

Dawn was suspicious.

Buffy had been traveling for two weeks, making rounds and checking on the various ICWS houses. Gods knew that a young Buffy would’ve felt much better about her whole destiny thing if she’d had regular visits from someone higher up in the organization than Giles had been; particularly if said visitor had appeared to actually give a damn about Buffy as a person, and her survival rather than her use as a weapon.

Buffy and Faith gave that to the girls who came to them for training, teaching and whatever else. With regular travel rotations, one or the other of the eldest Slayers visited every single training center at least once a month, barring apocalypse. If they missed one due to an emergency, that one was immediately bumped to the top of the next rotation.

It did amazing things for morale. Unfortunately, it meant that Dawn only saw her sister when Buffy had a break - or needed her somewhere, like their trip to Wakanda to meet the King.

So Buffy’s arrival, after an unexpected delay and an unknown stop, with a cooler full of the sort of stuff their mom used to get from the local farmer’s market… well, it was suspicious.

Especially when Buffy summarily kicked everyone out of the kitchen except for her youngest niece; four year old Lizzy was definitely not talking about what she’d been allowed to help with. They’d been in there for two hours, or nearly.

“You sure you don’t need any additional help?” Dawn asked, hoping for a chance to investigate when Buffy emerged from the kitchen bearing plates and silverware.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy shook her head. “You could take these and set the table if you really want to help. The munchkin and I are just about done.”

“And you haven’t set off the smoke alarm, or broken any of my cookware?” Dawn raised an eyebrow, even as she took the plates from Buffy. “Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?”

Buffy just laughed. Okay, so it was probably still Buffy with a response like that. But Dawn wasn’t above suspecting magic somehow.

When the family all sat down, Dawn was silent with shock. Her kids, bless them, didn’t see anything unusual about the flaky, golden top of a chicken pot pie, or the loaf of bread still steaming from the oven. A block of butter sat on a plate on the table, very obviously not a stick of butter from the grocery store either. Buffy sat with a smug expression, Lizzy just beside her.

“It smells amazing, Buffy,” Ramon, Dawn’s husband, stated.

“Thank you. I had some help trying to recreate mom’s recipe,” Buffy said in a quiet voice. “By all means, help yourselves. Dessert is in the oven, so…”

“You made dessert too?” Dawn squeaked, eyes wide. “One of mom’s..?”

Buffy nodded. “Apple cobbler,” she admitted. “I don’t have the stuff to make ice cream, but there’s a container on the freezer. Courtesy of my friends and their farm.” Buffy couldn’t have done this without Laura. Between ingredients, easy instructions, and a lot of trial-and-error to duplicate what Buffy remembered about her mom’s version of this meal… Laura Barton was a god-send.

And Clint never seemed to mind eating their mistakes.

Dawn shot out of her chair and flung herself at her sister. Fortunately, Buffy stood quickly enough to catch her without them risking the furniture. She could take the force of her sister’s enthusiasm; the dining chair maybe not so much. “Thank you,” Dawn whispered, barely audible even with enhanced hearing. “I just… thank you.”

Buffy cradled her sister in a gentle hug. “I wanted to surprise you. I hope it all tastes as good as it smells,” Buffy joked.

“Maybe mommy should sit down so we can find out?” seven year old Chris suggested cheekily. Fortunately, Ramon had already started serving the kids.

“Right, right. I’m sitting.” Dawn beamed at her family and returned to her seat. “Everyone say thank you to Auntie Buffy.”

“Thank you, Auntie!” the kids chorused.

Buffy smiled. “You’re welcome.” All the work was worth it, just for this moment.


	28. August 27 - From the Mouths of Babes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No actual MCU characters appear in this chapter, but they're mentioned.

“Auntie Buffy?” 

“Hmm?” Buffy absently answered; she was watching Dawn’s kids as well as Xander’s, all of whom called her ‘auntie’. But she’d tuned out for a bit while they watched a Disney movie. “What’s up, Anya?” 

Xander’s eldest girl, just over ten years old now, looked at her seriously. “Are you lonely?”

“How could I be lonely when I have all my nieces and nephews with me?” Buffy asked, putting on a bright smile.

“I mean, you always come to visit alone unless Auntie Faith is with you,” Anya said. “Daddy thinks you’re lonely because you don’t have a partner.”

“Hey, now,” Buffy protested. She pulled her niece into her lap, crossways so they could still talk. “I’m perfectly fine being single. I don’t need a man - or a woman - in my life to help define me.”

Anya shook her head. “You can be fine and still be lonely,” she pointed out, and once again Buffy had a moment of wondering whether naming this child for Anya gave her some of the old Anya’s habits and traits. Blunt honesty, and more insight sometimes than someone her age ought to have.

“It’s a complicated situation, honey,” Buffy admitted with a sigh. “I’ve not had much luck with relationships over the years, not like your mom and dad. Or Dawn and her husband. See, while everyone around me is getting older… it looks like I’m not. If you look at a picture of me from your daddy’s wedding, I look pretty much the same as I do now. Not like your daddy, who has more gray in his hair and other little signs of getting older.”

Anya frowned in confusion. “Why is that a problem?”

“Because a lot of adults worry about or are afraid of getting older,” Buffy explained patiently. “It makes them envious that I’m not. And envy is a feeling that can wreck relationships.”

“So just find someone like you?” Anya’s face crinkled as she made the logical suggestion.

“Oh, sweetie. I’m not sure there are people like me. Maybe Auntie Faith, but she’s family.” There were the Asgardians, but though friendly a lot of them still had odd ideas about relationships with mortals. There were the known super-soldiers, too, and rumors abounded about other successful test subjects from the various attempts over the decades at recreating Erskine’s success with Rogers. But no one had any idea if there was truth to the rumors, and Buffy doubted anyone with traces of an old serum in their system would admit to it.

“Mummy thinks you’ll find someone eventually,” Anya stated firmly. “You just have to accept it when you do.”

Buffy laughed. “Your mommy might be right. But I guess we’ll see, hmm? Would you like it if I brought someone else to visit when I come?”

Anya thought about it for a long moment, then nodded. “If they made you happy, I would like it. We don’t like seeing you sad or lonely.”

“Think you can keep me company until then?”

“Yup!” Anya hugged Buffy tightly. Buffy hugged back, holding in a sigh. Maybe her niece was right, but anything could seem simple from the perspective of a ten year old. Buffy hoped they might be right, though. 

Perhaps someday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Buffy. She always did have a tough time with romance.


	29. August 28 - Teens Fighting Evil

Peter Parker sat on a rooftop in his Spider Man costume, watching the scene below him with puzzlement. There were three girls in the alleyway below, fighting with five… well, they’d looked like men at first but as the fight started their faces had deformed with odd ridges, and their eyes glowed oddly yellow. He’d been following the girls because they pinged as strange to his sixth sense, and at first he’d thought about joining in on their fight. But they had the battle aspect well in hand, and by his estimation were actually probably better hand-to-hand fighters than he was.

They were fast, too. 

Then the men-creature-things started turning to dust when the girls struck them with… were those wooden stakes? Really?

Peter blinked, trying to wrap his mind around the science involved in suddenly ashing a body - without flashing back to his own experience being reduced to base carbon.

Okay, so maybe he didn’t need the science to accept what his eyes were showing.

“You can come down now,” one of the girls called cheekily, looking up to where he sat on the rooftop.

Oops. Got lost in thought and now they’d seen him. With a sigh, Peter leapt down, landing in the alleyway in a crouch. The girls fell into defensive positions, but he stood up slowly with his hands out to the side. “Didn’t mean to startle you,” he apologized automatically. “I’m just the friendly neighborhood Spider Man.”

“As long as you plan to stay friendly,” a second girl spoke up. She looked a little younger, maybe fourteen.

“Promise, as long as you’re only fighting… things, like those guys.”

“Vampires,” the first girl told him forthrightly. 

“Wait, what?” Peter blinked.

The third one, the girl who hadn’t spoken yet, tilted her head to one side. “I thought you were associated with the Avengers? They know about us…”

“Oh, I’m not really an Avenger. I just help if they need me,” Peter demurred modestly.

“Why can I hear Buffy basically saying the same thing?” the younger girl asked. The other two huffed a laugh and nodded.

“Who’s Buffy? And can I ask, who are you?”

“Oh, right. Well, we don’t have codenames,” the first girl, the one Peter was beginning to guess was the leader of this little squad. “I’m Sharon,” she introduced herself. She gestured to the younger girl first, “this is Leda and that’s Tonette.” She finished while gesturing to the quieter teen.

“Nice to meet you,” Peter managed to say politely.

“Buffy is our leader. Of our whole organization, really.”

“An organization of vampire killers?”

“Vampire Slayers,” Leda corrected. “Maybe he’s really not an Avenger, or he’d have gotten the briefing.”

Peter hung his head. “They sent me something, but I had exams and haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.”

Tonette snorted. “Know the feeling. I can’t imagine how Buffy managed to be the only Slayer  _ and _ keep up in high school.”

Peter kept silent, bewildered by just how open they were being in front of him. 

“Look, we’re not exactly a secret,” Sharon said, guessing where his thoughts had gone. “Come on with us, and we’ll fill you in with a bit more cohesion.”

“So you’re really all teens fighting vampires?” Peter asked curiously, following them out of the alley.

Sharon shook her head. “We are teens fighting vampires and demons, yes, but we have plenty of Slayers who are adults, too. The original Two, Buffy and Faith, are in their early 40s.” Well, if they ignored Faith missing five years. “Unfortunately, they had a major battle back in the early 2000s that killed a lot of their immediately junior successors, so there’s a bit of an age gap. The next oldest are still in their mid-to-late 30s, though.”

Peter considered the explanation for a long moment. “I think you ladies have some interesting stories to tell,” he finally landed on.

Leda grinned. “Just you wait. We’ve barely even begun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite her introduction to and occasional involvement with The Avengers, Buffy had made a point of not reaching out to Peter previously. She understands the teenage need for secrecy, and really does get Peter's determination to keep his family and friends safe by keeping them unaware of his alternate identity. So she left well enough alone.
> 
> Also, Peter is like 16 or 17 and Buffy is 43 or thereabouts. She has no desire to be creepy.


	30. August 29 - Why Didn’t You Tell Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because teenage drama happens.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Peter demanded before the rest of the Avengers could even settle into their usual seats.

“Tell you what?” Sam asked, confused.

“That there are super-powered teenage girls fighting demons right here in New York City?” Peter retorted, agitated.

“I thought we sent that in your last update?” Bruce asked, though it wasn’t really a question. He’d assembled the brief for Peter.

Peter ran his hands through his hair, pacing. “But you knew… you should have known. That this, specifically, would matter to me. It’s… I mean… they didn’t ask for their powers, either, but they… they know…”

“Oh, I see,” Wanda said softly. “They understand what it’s like for you, because they have the same sense of responsibility. To use what they have to help people.”

“But… we do that,” Scott chimed in.

“But you don’t know what it’s like to keep your secrets, fight the bad guys, and still go to high school.” 

“Yes!” Peter exclaimed, whirling towards the sound of the new voice.

The group turned to see Buffy leaning against the doorway. “Sorry to keep inviting myself to your meetings, but the girls told me what happened. I thought if your youngest unofficial member was coming, it might be for the best if I showed up.” Buffy stepped into the room and held her hand out to Peter. “Buffy Summers, head of the International Council of Watchers and Slayers and also the oldest living Slayer.”

“Pe-Peter Parker, ma’am.” Peter stammered, taken aback.

“I hear you got quite an earful of stories from the NYC team,” Buffy said with a smile.

“You… I mean… they… um, I…” Peter couldn’t seem to get his brain to form words all of a sudden. This was a woman who could understand him. Who knew what it was like to be a teenage superhero. And wow, she didn’t look at all like she was over forty.

“Thank you,” Buffy replied with a grin. Peter blushed, suddenly realizing his thoughts hadn’t all stayed internal.

“If we’re past his bout of teenage angst, can we maybe actually get this meeting started?” Bucky asked, though his tone was light and amused. Teasing Peter, more than accusing.

“I, um, yeah,” Peter said, suddenly embarrassed. “Sorry, guys,” he added in a low voice.

“You are young, and you learned something that changed your worldview,” Wanda said with a smile. “Your behavior is forgivable.”

“We can talk after the meeting,” Buffy promised. “I’ll just take myself down to the gym, and you can find me when Avengers’ business is done.”

“Or you could just stay,” Sam offered. “Never know when your insight will be useful. I’m pretty sure you’ve been fighting this fight longer than any of us.”

“Oh, all right,” Buffy conceded. She plopped herself into a chair with a put-upon sigh. “Go ahead, then. Brief away.” 

“As Her Majesty commands,” Bucky teased, winking at Buffy. Buffy just rolled her eyes and waved her hand in a ‘get on with it’ sort of motion.


	31. August 30 - Peter Believed Her

“Why do they tease you about being royalty?” Peter asked, apropos of nothing. They sat together in a park, having picked up drinks from a coffee shop on the way out of the Tower.

Buffy sighed and sipped her mocha. “I’m one of only two Slayers still living who were Chosen under the old rules applying to Slayers - only one at a time, alone against the darkness, blah, blah, blah. I’m sometimes referred to as the Prime Slayer, since I was the access point for the spell that awakened all the other potential Slayers. Faith, my sister in all but blood, is actually the last Chosen One. I died, briefly, back in high school and was revived with CPR. But it was enough to call the next Slayer, so there were two of us for a few years. 

“Anyway, even though the Slayers as an organization are run by a Council, Faith and I are who the girls look up to as leaders and role-models. Especially the younger ones. It was the Wakandans who took the nickname of Queen Bee and made comments about how I’m effectively the Queen of the Slayers.” Buffy rolled her eyes. “It has gotten around over the past few years, because the girls are ridiculously proud and possessive of me. But I’m not royalty or anything like that. Bucky just likes to tease, and I mind it less than being called ‘doll’ even though I know he doesn’t mean anything derogatory with the name.”

“Um, wow,” Peter managed, blinking as he took in the info dump. “I mean, um, congratulations? I guess?”

Buffy laughed. “Thanks. So, is it my age or my gender that makes you uncomfortable?” she asked bluntly.

“Gender, mostly,” Peter admitted. “I’m pretty hopeless around pretty girls. Women. Either, really.”

“Would it help you to pretend I’m a relative? Or a teacher, maybe?” Buffy offered, smiling gently in understanding. She could tell he was rather shy, and he reminded her a lot of a very young Willow; too smart for most of his peers, shy and with a tendency to babble when nervous.

Peter thought about the suggestion. He didn’t have any problems talking to Aunt May. And Buffy was definitely old enough to be his aunt… “It might help,” he acknowledged quietly. “I love my Aunt May, but she really doesn’t understand. And she has pretty much raised me, so she treats me like ‘little Peter’ and not a superhero. You know?”

Buffy smiled and nodded. “You’re only a few years older than the oldest of my honorary nephews. I wouldn’t mind having another.”

“I… I think I’d like that. I could… could really use someone who understands.”

“I get that. No, really, I do. For the first few years I was a Slayer, I couldn’t tell my parents. I mean, I tried but no one believed me. The world was less complicated back then. We didn’t have any big, out in the open superheros. No alien invasions making people reconsider what they’d always believed in.”

“My Aunt May believes me. I know that. And… Mr. Stark did too. He believed in me, supported me. But I’m just a kid, you know? And sometimes, I really wish I could just be a kid all the time.”

“I felt that way too. I was fifteen, starting in a new high school after my parents split up, and I just wanted to be a cheerleader. Maybe run for Homecoming Queen. Make some friends and try to pass my classes,” Buffy reminisced. “And I did make some really great friends. They believed me about the super powers thing, too, because I saved them from a vampire who had once been one of their best friends.”

“What happened?”

So Buffy told him about moving to Sunnydale, meeting Willow and Xander, having their best friend, Jesse, turned into a vamp.

Peter told her how difficult it could be if there were attacks at his school, or nearby but during school hours. Buffy got that, too. Not that vamps attacked during the daytime, but winter evenings got dark pretty early and some extra-curriculars ran past sunset. 

“How did you do it?” Peter asked eventually.

“With help. I had a few friends I could really trust, and they helped me as much as they possibly could,” Buffy explained. “They were my support, and my reason to keep fighting.”

“I can see that. I don’t want my friends to get hurt, either,” Peter nodded. “Were they ever not enough?”

“Yes,” Buffy admitted honestly. “We muddled through, mostly because we didn’t have a choice. But it’s different now, for the younger girls. They have each other, and Faith and myself. My sister, my friends, my mentor; those of us still living, we’re all still around to help.”

“I… I wish I had what they have, sometimes.”

“You do, Peter,” Buffy soothed him. “You have your Aunt. You have the other Avengers. And if you ever need help, there are Slayers around the world. We’ll answer if you call.”

“Really?” Peter perked up at the inclusion of herself and the Slayers.

“Of course. We’ve branched out from just vamps and demons over the past few years. If it threatens our world, we’re on it,” Buffy smiled, lightening her tone with the comment.

“I… I don’t know if I can thank you for offering me that kind of support,” Peter said after a moment.

“You don’t have to.” Buffy shook her head. “No single teenager should ever have been responsible for safeguarding the whole world. That state of things won’t ever happen again on my watch.”

He’d only known her for a few hours, but somehow… Peter believed her.


	32. August 31 - Cap’s (Much Delayed) Return

Alarms rang out across every Avengers-setup floor in the Tower.

“FRIDAY, what’s going on?” Bruce demanded.

“Increased energy readings detected in Storage Unit C,” the AI reported dutifully.

“Shit,” Bruce swore.

“What’s in Unit C?” Bucky asked, even as the group headed swiftly for the elevators.

“The quantum time device!”

Sam and Wanda joined in the swearing. Bucky didn’t waste time with the elevators; he headed straight for the stairs. As he did, memory swamped him.

_ “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” Steve admonished gently. _

_ “How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” _

_ But the time had elapsed, and Steve hadn’t come back. Not at ten seconds, or two minutes, or two hours. _

Bucky shook himself. He could wonder what and why later. 

When he reached Unit C, Bucky wrenched open the door and dashed inside. The time device was lit up, despite not actually being connected to a power source.

“FRIDAY, report!” Bruce said, pushing past Bucky to get to the controls.

Before the AI could respond, a loud crackle of energy echoed through the room. And in its wake, a figure appeared on the platform. Responding automatically to a potential threat, Wanda’s hands began to glow, Sam reached for a weapon, and Bucky braced himself to jump if need be.

The figure raised its hands slowly, showing they were empty. Then one hand reached towards the controls for the time suit. It folded into itself as they all recalled from the last time, leaving Steve Rogers standing on the platform.

“My God… Cap?” Sam asked tentatively. He’d taken it the hardest when Steve hadn’t returned. After all, Bucky knew his brother and he’d known the likelihood of Steve giving up his hopes for the future three times was… unlikely. Especially after all they’d lost.

“Hi Sam,” Steve replied. He smiled, but it didn’t go any further than his lips. Steve had a haunted, almost broken look in his eyes that the smile couldn’t touch.

“Welcome back, punk,” Bucky said quietly, waving at the others to stand down. 

“What happened?” Bruce asked, obviously puzzling over the information on the machine’s controls.

Steve stepped down from the platform. There were other changes in him. He didn’t move any differently, but he seemed to carry a different sort of weight. And his hair was longer, especially in the back. “I thought about what Tony had always said, that I should get a life. So I got one, or I tried to.” A wedding ring glinted on his left hand, visible when he reached up to run his hands through his hair.

“But it didn’t work out the way you thought?” Wanda ventured.

Steve sighed. “It did, for a while. But...” he hesitated, then squared his shoulders. “It’s one thing to lose friends while saving the world. And something else entirely to watch the people you love grow old and die, when you don’t appear to be aging with them.”

No one seemed to know how to respond to that for a long moment. Shaking his head, Bucky stepped close and pulled Steve in for a hug. “I’m sorry to hear it, Steve,” he murmured. Steve hugged back, clinging to Bucky as if in need of greater strength than his own.

“I’m sorry for your loss, my friend,” Wanda spoke up next. She offered Steve a hug as well, and he accepted with a small smile.

“Thank you.”

“Will your descendents be around here, still?” Sam asked, resting his hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“No. The timeline where I stayed in the past wouldn’t have merged with this one. It doesn’t work that way,” Steve admitted.

“Then there’s a timeline out there that will benefit from generations of the Rogers family,” Sam offered with a hopeful expression. “And this one will benefit from your return.”

“How old are you now, punk?” Bucky asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“I think I lost track somewhere. If you count the time on ice, something around a hundred and fifty?”

Bucky laughed. “I’m glad you’re home. We missed you.”

“How long has it been?”

“A bit over two years.” Bucky smiled. “And man, do we have a lot to catch you up on. Plus, some new allies for you to meet.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet,” Steve admitted. 

“You will be,” Wanda said with assurance.

“And besides, you’re gonna  _ love _ the Slayers,” Bucky added. “Strength, power, and sass in a couple of tiny packages that so far seem to have the same problems with aging that you have.”

“But don’t call Buffy tiny to her face, or she’ll probably hit you,” Sam added ruefully.

Steve managed a chuckle. “Sounds like a great pair of ladies. Maybe meeting them won’t be so bad.”

“Buffy and Faith kinda remind me of me an’ you,” Bucky said as the group began to leave the storage room. “Not related, but sisters all the same. Balancing each other’s weaknesses, and brought closer together by shared experiences.”

“You sound smitten, Buck,” Steve teased gently.

“Maybe a bit,” Bucky admitted with a shrug.

“Are they part of the team?”

“No, they’re independent. They run an organization of their own. But they’re always willing to help if we call them, and they tend to drop by just to check in on us,” Bucky explained. “Buffy’s been mentoring Peter. He calls her Aunt, and it’s kinda cute. But she knew what he was dealing with, trying to be a normal teen in school during the day and a superhero at night. He’s a lot calmer and more comfortable with his identity as Spider Man now.”

“Sounds like these ladies have been good for more than just you, then?”

Bucky grinned. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

* * *

When Bucky did arrange to introduce Steve to Faith and Buffy, he didn’t even managed to get a word out before half the Tower heard Faith exclaim, “Holy shit! Captain America’s growing out a freaking mullet??!”

Buffy’s laughter joined her sister’s. “That’s a look that never worked for anybody.”

Steve ducked his head. “I came back from the eighties?” was the best he could offer.

Shaking his head, Bucky moved to make introductions. He had a feeling coming back home was probably the best choice Steve could’ve made. 

It meant he wasn’t alone. Wouldn’t ever be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I understand what Marvel did with Steve was largely because Chris Evans is moving on - all the original Avengers actors are, honestly - I have always headcanoned that the super soldier serum slows Steve’s (and possibly Bucky’s) aging in the extreme. They aren’t quite immortal, and they can still actually be killed, but they will live well beyond the span of the human norm.
> 
> I haven’t decided if I really see Steve and Bucky in relationships with the similarly immortal Slayers, but at the very least they can all be friends. They’ll all have support from each other when they begin losing their friends and loved ones in this reality, too. Plus, the Asgardian friendships will help some. 
> 
> So that’s where we end for the 2019 Fic-A-Day challenge. I hope everyone enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I love hearing people's thoughts. I love hearing from readers, and I'd guess I probably have some of you who miss my forays into the MCU. So hopefully these will make you smile.


End file.
